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This is me, at work, raw and unpolished
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Something richly patterned with a complementary impressionist style.
So lately I've just been having fun doing small rough colour sketches, brushing up on my drawing skills, and basically letting myself explore and play with new ideas without any thought of creating anything finished.
It's been fun and now I thought I might do a small piece incorporating a style I've found myself more and more drawn to create, with richly patterned subject matters in impressionistic complementary hues!..
It's been fun and now I thought I might do a small piece incorporating a style I've found myself more and more drawn to create, with richly patterned subject matters in impressionistic complementary hues!..
2"x3" thumbnail with a green toned ground
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I'm leaning towards this red tone ground for the final piece or maybe a combo.
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Tried not to complicate things and decided to do a simple comp with me doggy, took dozens and dozens of pics and played around with a compo but I find I'm already totally bored with the subject matter (although he is a cutie).. I've found, time an again, anything requiring more than a quick alla prima or sketch always needs to be conceptual somehow to retain my interest long enough.. A freshly primed 7.5 x 10In canvasboard has been prepared ( at this point I don't think I'll be doing anything special to it texturally) and I do have an idea for something that should retain my interest longer, with the same backdrop above from a different perspective. So next I'll be taking more ref pics with my new subject matter and designing the composition.
Ta guys!..
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Ta guys!..
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Hiya folks, so after a bit of brainstorming I found conceptual inspiration that includes my doggy after all and had fun researching symbolism to subtly add into the piece.. In my research I came across a nordic symbol for guidance and protection 'Vegvisir' that I'm quite excited to add in to the piece.. This part of the process where I get to research and learn about new concepts, history etc.. which I then get to incorporate in my work, is a major part of why I love creating art so much!.. Anyways, here's a tonal study I did after some playing around on photoshop.. The composition will be square so I had to make another canvasboard, but alls well as I will also be adding an extra optical/textural element to the canvas surface that required me to start from scratch anyways..
Tonal Study with thumbnails testing out the textured effect I want to produce in the final.
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Here is one of the thumbnails that closest resembles what I'm going for, painted over with oil paint (after toning the ground with olive green acrylic)
I've decided on an olive green toned ground for the piece, and after the preliminary tests, changed to a smoother canvas for the final as I found the test canvas a little too distractingly rough..
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To create the effect I wanted, a little more preliminary work was required in preparing the canvasboard..
After the canvas was mounted on hardboard and dried thoroughly, the canvas was then 'stained' with black plaka.
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Once the plaka had dried, masking taped was taped over the whole canvas board
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Then the design was traced on to the taped canvasboard.
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...and cut out with a sharp blade.
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With that I was able to lay on the gesso, and while it was still wet, remove the stencil. I removed the stencil while it was wet for two reasons:
1. It would be a lot more difficult to remove once dried and
2. I was able to 'untidy' the still wet sharp edges left by the stencil.
1. It would be a lot more difficult to remove once dried and
2. I was able to 'untidy' the still wet sharp edges left by the stencil.
Dried gesso ready for paint.. The exposed black canvas was protected with a clear acrylic coating too.
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Preliminary Drawing over the toned ground of Bright Green and Cad Red Acrylic mix.
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Once the gesso had 24hours to dry it was ready for the acrylic toned ground which dried within a matter of minutes.
The preliminary drawing was then drawn. At this point I was able to make slight adjustments to any areas where the black canvas parts did not accurately fit my drawing, by spot covering with more gesso..
At this point it looks pretty awful, but I'm hoping it will all come together later when I paint it all over with the oil paint!..
Ta for now folks!..
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The preliminary drawing was then drawn. At this point I was able to make slight adjustments to any areas where the black canvas parts did not accurately fit my drawing, by spot covering with more gesso..
At this point it looks pretty awful, but I'm hoping it will all come together later when I paint it all over with the oil paint!..
Ta for now folks!..
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Starting to paint
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Hi, so the first layer of paint has begun. I'm mainly focusing on trying to convey the folds and undulating feel of the blanket with the contours of the crosshatching... These crosshatches probably won't really be seen after the subsequent layers but it helps me ensure the green toned ground doesn't get completely covered as I lay more layers on top.. . I am not mixing any of these hues with white at the moment and they are all basically pretty pure, leaning towards the deepest tones of each hue.. I am trying to trust the process even though this is a first for me, and enjoying the journey more as a result!..
Ta for now folks! ... 
Still on the first layer, starting white hair details..
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Hi guys!, Though it's taking many intensive hours, I'm really having fun fully indulging in the detailing of this piece..
On the whole, the basic local colour was used in the first layer in contouring crosshatched lines. 
1st layer WIP
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Starting the 2nd layer with the blanket..
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I've started on the 2nd layer now and am still following the contour lines I had mapped previously in the first layer on the whole.
This time I am getting in the changes in light and hues, and also adding the extra Annulet pattern to the blanket, with a lighter tone of the local blanket colour..
Another symbolic element I've added to the piece is the adapted flower plant pattern (on the top big cushion), based on the cumin flower which is a symbol of fidelity..
As I work on each patch individually, I start with 4 variations of hue and tone of it's local colour. As my lighting is warm (and shadows cool) I also have 2 more that use the same hues but using cooler colours (for example using lemon yellow instead of cad yellow) for the areas further away or in shadowed cooler areas. One should always determine beforehand if your subject will have warm lighting, or cool lighting as all of your colour decisions will stem from this basis.
Even though I am leaving very slight peeks of the olive green underpainting, I am also adding touches of complementary green in touches to the deep red patches. This has the effect of not only bringing more vibrancy to the red, but is more visually exciting..
Ok that's it for now!.. Ta!
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This time I am getting in the changes in light and hues, and also adding the extra Annulet pattern to the blanket, with a lighter tone of the local blanket colour..
Another symbolic element I've added to the piece is the adapted flower plant pattern (on the top big cushion), based on the cumin flower which is a symbol of fidelity..
As I work on each patch individually, I start with 4 variations of hue and tone of it's local colour. As my lighting is warm (and shadows cool) I also have 2 more that use the same hues but using cooler colours (for example using lemon yellow instead of cad yellow) for the areas further away or in shadowed cooler areas. One should always determine beforehand if your subject will have warm lighting, or cool lighting as all of your colour decisions will stem from this basis.
Even though I am leaving very slight peeks of the olive green underpainting, I am also adding touches of complementary green in touches to the deep red patches. This has the effect of not only bringing more vibrancy to the red, but is more visually exciting..
Ok that's it for now!.. Ta!
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2nd layer of blanket done..
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Hi guys! So the blanket is done for now (I will be going in to add colours, shadows or highlights near the end.. )
As you can see the vegvisir symbol can hardly be see from this head on view now, and can only be seen clearly under certain lighting from the side.. (I'll be sure to take pics to show this effect when it is done) The piece looks a bit off kilter at the mo as the central circle has not been incorporated in yet.. Once that is done, it should look more balanced. Next up, the doggy! ... |
The title is not confirmed yet ( haven't thought of something that would encompass all the themes I designed this piece to convey )
As I've mentioned before all previous WIP images of this piece were lost when my camera got stolen at the start of the piece. Indeed I couldn't help thinking how much one of the themes of this piece applied to the unfortunates who had gotten so desperate as to attempt an essentially botched burglary on us (all they got was the the rather old and cheap camera) which was displayed clear as day during their attempt...
Completed Dead Layer SIZE : 14 . 5 " x 12 "
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3rd Glaze Layer on Table & Turkey
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Lightening with just titanium white alkyd after 3rd glaze layer.
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It was started off with a detailed underpainting in acrylic burnt umber, proceeded by the dead layer in alkyd (fast drying oils) with a mixture of -
Terre Verte (a lean (extra fast drying), very transparent greenish hue) Lamp Black (has an extremely high tinting strength. Adding more black, darkens and gives a more blueish cooler tone) Burnt Sienna (added because it seemed to give a wholeness to the hue) I'm currently going over the piece detailing the lights in Titanium White (an opaque white) as after the 3rd glaze, the turkey started to look a bit too dark. At this point I am still using alkyd and using a mixture of - Liquin fine detail : Refined Linseed Oil : Turpentine ( with a 1 : 1 : 2 ratio ) as my medium. |
I'm happy with the level of lightening that has been done for now and can continue with the 4th glaze layer next...
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