Red Hat Ladies 2 ~ complete

It took me as long to complete as to get started but it's done. I do need to clean up the right edge on the hat of the lady in the foreground, though. I just noticed that but I had to snap a photo while the light was right. It's been so gloomy here. The painting was actually finished yesterday. I'd like to say this one fought me all the way but I think a lot had to do with my mind set. I'm 'winter weary' and it shows in my work. I'm a moody artist, it seems and it's a fight to stay in the mood to paint at the moment.

Second image: made the corrections to the hat, added some Quin. gold spatter to the BG and signed it. Done!

Reference photos courtesy of Judy Wright on PaintMyPhoto

Red Hat Ladies 2 ~ WIP 3

I've been pecking away at this one a bit everyday. I ran out of light before taking the photo so it's a little blurry. At least I hope that's the reason. My camera hasn't been taking the best photos lately and I really don't want to buy another at the moment.

Red Hat Ladies 2 ~ WIP

I've just started a second 'Red Hat Ladies' after running into a slight problem. I had planned on doing two separate portraits as companion pieces for the original RHL (link) but discovered the leftover illustration board wasn't large enough for my purpose. I had forgotten I cut a strip from one side to use for painting trials so was left with an odd sized, square-ish piece to work with. Normally I would've gone back to the alcohol inks until I found a solution but that isn't an option at the moment. Finally a lightbulb went on in my head and I came up with this composition. This is just a photo of my drawing on tracing paper and, once again, I realize how much I would dearly love to have a lightbox, especially when working with human faces. Capturing the correct facial expressions of these lovely ladies is crucial to this piece and freehanding was challenging but I tried to keep it to a minimum. I'm really posting this so I can see it online to see if it 'works'. I invite my visitors to feel free to chime in with their opinions.

Red Hat Ladies ~ completed

I made my tweaks and added a pale yellow wash to the background as planned. The wash doesn't show up as much on the right side of the painting but trust me...it's there. I graduated the wash, heavier on the left and lightening up as it moves toward the right. I also added some pale yellow reflections to the ladies's skin and it gave the painting a glow it was otherwise lacking. I hope the image I post is close to accurate colorwise. I received three Windows updates that threw my monitor for a loop. Now everything has taken on a greenish cast I can't seem to fully correct. Because of this, the image has only been resized and sharpened in my photo editor.

Red Hat Ladies ~ WIP 4

Okay, this is where I'm at right now. The beads weren't as tedious to paint as I feared and I hope the feather boa reads as feathers and not fur. I can already see a few things that need tweaking and I want to give the background a loose wash of golden yellow to break up all the reds and purples. I used the method I devised in my last post to create the feathers and it seemed to work pretty well. The red of the boa had to be broken up a little so I added some Perlyene Violet and Quin. violet for color variation and depth. I also used a damp brush to lift out and highlight some of the feathers.  

Red Hat Ladies ~ WIP 3

 

I've finished the third lady's face and am now on to her hat. The ribbons will be easy, the feathers maybe not so much. I did some experimenting on scrap paper and I think I may have a solution. All her feathers are of the downy variety. Achieving that light, fuzzy effect could still be problematic but I may come close by dropping clear water onto the paper, then taking the handle end of a small brush and 'feathering' the water outward. Before the water can dry I plan to drop in my watercolor, thick paint (straight from the tube), and just let it follow the water as watercolor paint tends to do. I can help it along with the brush handle if need be. While the paper is still damp I can scratch in the quill part of the feathers with the same brush handle.

Red Hat Ladies ~ WIP 1

It seems like it's been a long time since I posted an update but I have been working at this, albeit slowly, almost everyday. Yesterday was migraine day (bad headache) so I watched the Housewives of NYC marathon instead. Wow, those ladies can get crazy, crazy. Talk about drama around every corner but I digress...

I wound up transferring my drawing twice before beginning the painting. Thank heaven I did those color studies and discovered that mixed in with my Arches hotpress paper was a sheet of Strathmore Bristol Series 500 illustration board. I didn't order it but somehow it came with the Arches watercolor paper by mistake. I remember thinking that the paper felt heavier or more stiff when I pulled it out but continued on, clueless. It wasn't until I laid down a very wet wash that I realized something was wrong. The paper 'pilled' up like an old sweater. I tried the other side of the paper and found that almost as smooth as Yupo. The paint even beaded up on it. That's when I noticed an embossed stamp in one corner stating that it was Bristol board and the really good stuff, too!

I do love a challenge now and then so I decided to continue with the smooth side of the paper and paint my red hat ladies. We'll see how successful I am when it's done.