"Reflections" follow-up...'I feel pretty...'

This past week, I took my painting - now titled "I feel pretty...' to the Academy Art Museum in Easton, Maryland. The following day I was notified that it has been juried into the show!

The show will run from July 21 until August 19.

Stop by and take a look - "Reflections: Natural and Imagined"

"Reflections" - Part Two

Thank you to those of you who gave suggestions for the background of "I feel pretty..." Here's the process from where I left off until it was framed.

As a reminder, this is where I left off...

In the original photo, the background was dark. One of the suggestions was, 'Make it dark. The child will pop.'

Since I was experimenting with this, I decided to mask the mirror with black construction paper and get a sense of it.

I wasn't sure about including the mirror frame in the upper righthand corner, so I masked it also.

I think it needs the frame so your eye doesn't slide off the paper.

Then I took it to class...  everyone agreed that the figure does indeed 'pop', but there was also the feeling that the black was too severe for this young child.

I had anticipated this and had also tried several other possibilities. I did a very dark blue-green and added even more color to it with some pastels - swatch on the left. I also tried lighter watercolor mixes.

These are my swatches:

In the end, I chose a light blue-green - sort of a mix of the colors on top. I was thinking that the painting is very pink/rose and leans toward orangey/beige/brown. The basic compliments would be green and blue. I also thought it might show up more as a glass mirror.

I tweaked the face and hands some more, added some light streaks and made myself put it in a frame...knowing that I could 'tweak it to death' if I didn't get it behind glass pretty soon.

It goes to be juried later this week. Fingers crossed that it is accepted into the show.

"Reflections"

I usually don't post unfinished artwork, but thought I would put this out there and ask for critique.

The St Michaels Art League has a show coming up in late summer with the theme "Reflections." I went looking in my picture file for some old photos of granddaughters who had discovered the freestanding mirror in our bedroom.

The girls has decorated some old straw hats with flowers and stickers - they were very proud of their creations. They were wearing their princess nightgowns and fancy hats when they found the mirror. What a show they put on! This one was particularly fascinated. She picked up another flower which became her microphone and began singing "I feel pretty..." (Her mother used to sing that to them, so she knew the words!)

As I looked through the old photos, I couldn't find just what I wanted so I decided to try to combine three different shots. There was Leighton singing, another with part of the mirror (so you would know it was a reflection), and another of her back. I sketched these separately and then tried to put them into one.

I began with a sketch.

The hat is the wrong angle. So I began taking pictures of the hat to get the right perspective.

Here's the next sketch.

I played with that for awhile and then did a watercolor underpainting. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of that. I was too excited and wanted to get on with my pastels!

I have been working on this more and have gotten this far. 

I need to 'pink up' her face a little and tweak here and there...and then decide what to do about the background in the mirror. In the original photos, the background is very dark. I am leaning toward a very neutral lighter color - not what was in the original photos...  I have said this before, but the wonderful thing about painting from a photograph is that I can change anything I want to. As one of my painting teachers has said many times "You do what the painting needs."

I welcome suggestions! Will post a final in a few weeks...

The wedding

Several months ago, a longtime friend of ours told us that one of her grandsons was getting married and she wanted me to do a painting for the couple. Andrew and Jen are to be married at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in St. Michaels and Shirley wanted to painting to show a local scene.

We talked about what should be in the painting: Andrew and Jen, the Hooper Straight Lighthouse (icon of the museum), the small boat shed (where the reception is to be held), my crabs, water, a flag, the date...the list grew longer.

I had to start somewhere...  What works well for me is to put all this in my head and 'sleep on it.' The next day I had the idea of bride and groom crabs on the lighthouse.

Here is a first sketch done on drawing paper.

We talked about this some and decided to make the lighthouse more prominent and put their names underneath.

Next sketch - again on drawing paper

The lighthouse has more detail and a light source. Crabs are too big...

Next sketch is on watercolor paper - going for the real thing.

It is going to look OK in a mat. Needs a little tweaking here and there.

The weather forecast for wedding day continues to be iffy. The mother of the groom told me that if it rains, the wedding will be under the lighthouse! I'm going tp put more clouds in the sky... and sign it.

Painting is framed.

They are now all off to the wedding - our fingers are crossed - everyone is taking an umbrella...

Local Artist article

This past week I was honored by being featured in a regional magazine - "Metropolitan" which is published in Salisbury, MD! Very exciting for me - it makes me look like I sometimes really know what I am doing...

For the online version click
http://www.themetropolitanmagazine.com/Editorial/%20%2005_18may_editorial/05_Artist_18.html

Now, I guess I'll have to start painting again! 

Late afternoon sunlight

We have lots of windows in our house. It's an issue when it comes time to wash them. But, at all other times, it is wonderful to have the sunlight streaming in...especially in the late afternoon.

This was particularly true when some grandchildren visited about 15 years ago. I had my camera ready and recently rediscovered a few of the pictures. This little girl (now 16 years old) had just had a bath and was standing next to the windows. There is something about that afternoon light on a child...

I had planned to do this as a watercolor. I sketched it out on watercolor paper and did a first layer in my watercolor class. I brought it home and put in the background. Unfortunately, I did not take a picture before I put the in the dark background. It's amazing how that changed everything!

However, once the background had dried, I knew I needed to use my pastels. I would not be able to get the soft look I wanted with just watercolor. Using the watercolor underpainting as my base, I began with various pastels. Watercolor paper does not have the same 'tooth' as the sanded pastel paper I normally use. I can't build up too many layers on this paper.

I took it back to class for a critique. They thought the shadow lines were too prominent. I also knew that she was too pink and I needed to work on her hair.

Hair and skin are softened. Shadow lines are still there but no longer 'shouting' at me.

In the original photo, she was holding a phone in her hand. I wanted the focal point to be her face - even though she is looking at something, I did not want to concentrate on the phone and have you looking at it, too. So I cropped off the bottom. Now you can just imagine what she is doing...

The watercolor underpainting worked well. It gave me shapes - but the pastels made this happen!

It is now in a gold frame which makes it glow... and waiting to be hung in a show at the St Michaels Library during the month of May. Stop by and see the original!

Bringing back a memory

For many years my parish has offered a weekly service of Holy Communion at a retirement facility in our community. I volunteer there and am scheduled to help on the fourth Thursday of each month. I look forward to this time - I love being there. There is something very special about being a part of this ministry that I treasure.

This past Thursday we were celebrating Palm Sunday (which is really today, but each Thursday we use the readings for the upcoming Sunday). Of course, we had palms to give to everyone.

Marianne, the Chaplain at Bayleigh Chase, took a palm and said, "Remember how as kids we always made crosses with the palms?" We started recalling the different kinds of crosses we all made.

Yes, I remembered making crosses! The ones I made were done with knives...they were cut in precise ways and then a crossbar was slid into the center part. Unfortunately (or fortunately) I do not carry a knife with me so I couldn't make 'my' crosses.

However, Marianne had made hers by folding the palm branches. She began making crosses, the memories came flooding back and before long ... she had all these lying on the table!

I know, it's not something I painted, but I love the image ... maybe someday, I will paint it!