dyes
Veronica 3: Dyes
It’s been a week or so since I painted. Usually my “first painting back” is a little wild and this painting is no different. Luckily, I’m learning some control even when I’m all jacked up to paint. In years past, this painting would have sucked. Heh. I’ll post some pictures of these types of paintings to illustrate the point and help me to see my growth.
Meanwhile, I really like a lot of what turned out in this painting.
Also, it’s my third painting using watercolor canvas and I continue to fall in love with it. I never, ever thought I’d replace my cotton illustration board, but with this specially treated canvas I’m getting the effects I want with the added bonuses of more control, no warping, and a gallery-ready piece.
Here’s another of Veronica, who’s just an exceptional model to work with and creates amazing shots that make it easy for me to paint. Higher quality photos next week.
Breakthrough
I tried painting on watercolor-treated canvas and it worked. Hard to explain but canvas just feels more like art than the boards. I’m tempted to paint everything I ever painted all over again.
Update: added photo
Quick thoughts: more forgiving than the board, less bleed, backgrounds are snappier, modeling (form shadow) is possible, but requires more sheparding, need to know what I’m going to do in advance, but room for improvisation when I’m more comfortable. Hair is potentially trickier, but could be due to the fact I worked so much smaller than I’m used to (about a quarter of the size).
Last painting of ’08?
iPhone pic of finished painting, higher quality will be posted soon. Second attempt at the Frankenstyle.
Also, noteworthy, I made some important purchases today. I bought a starter set of oil paints, and some canvas to stretch to try using the dyes on untreated canvas. One of those will work and get me from boards to canvas