Oklahoma Fine Artist Celeste Vaught blogs about current art projects, art tips, art events, sources of inspirations, etc.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Process of a Painting...Who Am I?
I thought it would be fun to post a "WIP" or work in progress so that you can see the stages of a painting and how it develops. Now I realize that this is a "risky" proposition since at this point one doesn't know exactly how a painting will turn out! Let's hope it's good. I really feel strongly about this reference photo and have a good feeling about its composition. In planning this I decided to force the perspective to give the viewer a sense of awe in looking up at the beautiful terra cotta frieze work above the entrance to this famous Tulsa Art Deco Landmark. Inclusion of some diagonal lines in the scene also adds to the energy - appropriate for this structure.
At this point I've begun using a prepped piece of mdf that's 11 x 14". I lightly sketched some of the main lines with pencil but didn't go into a lot of detail as that can hinder the development of major forms in the design. Given the unusual composition I feel it's important to keep those big forms somewhat abstracted with the main focus up on that decorative frieze. So, once the main outlines were established, I just used a heavy Burnt Sienna wash and removed light areas. Next I worked back in some of the darker areas with the Burnt Sienna as well as just some very light freehand references of the detail in the frieze. This will likely be adjusted and corrected along the way as I constantly look at how all the shapes and their sizes relate to one another. Stay tuned as I post future phases. Hopefully I'll remember to stop and take photos along the way!
So, at this point, can you tell "who I am" (that is what is this building?)
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2 comments:
Would it be the Fire Alarm Building by any chance. :-)
Cheers,
David
Absolutely!
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