Word

I don't feel like writing anything.

Stuff

So we have the mural sketched out- next week on Tuesday, the paint will show up, and then week after- it'll be done. I'll be documenting the process and will post a time lapse on my youtube... I forgot to record us projecting and sketching but it wasn't the cool part anyways. All the freehand junk will be recorded as long as I'm around to record it. I enjoy blogging but I also enjoy watching Youtube so I figured, YOU PROBABLY DO TOO :) I'll link it here, and all of my other accounts when I get there. 

ONWARDS.

This portrait has been supremely challenging and lengthy, but dos skin tones doe.

Been hacking away at some other stuff. Tried out a brunaille and a Verdaille, now I need to try grisaille. 

Cute dog progress. (Brunaille, starting to add colour)

New portrait commission base coat- trying out Verdaille.

I really want to start varnishing my work, but it's almost all commission and I don't have time. I mean that's a good thing because I'm being a grown woman making money and stuff, so there's that.

Ciao!

-C.

Short Blurb

I really like how this looks in black and white.... I've done so many layers on this thing and yet for some reason in colour it looks unfinished. So here's the edited version, which I prefer because it's harder to tell that there are so many muddy colours; only contrasted by the chalky blue background. But without colour, I would pass it as near finished.

Here's to crossed eyes.

-C

Nothing is Easy

As a gift to my friend Manuel, who modelled for me a few months ago, I decided to give him a small portrait. Considering the ease of the last one, I really thought it would be quick... 

No.

Nope.

Nada.

...oh it looks a bit like-

-NOPE.

:$&3&3&7$:&3

Ok ok...

IT FINALLY RESEMBLES HIM. :|

Just goes to show you it isn't WHAT or WHO you're painting, but the abstract shape, colour, form and tone within it. Always try to flatten the image- take away all meaning, twist it upside down if that helps you. Make it so you don't recognize it. Never paint 'Manuel'- just paint colour.

Good luck. 

Commitment Issues

Sometimes I have commitment issues.

Too pale...

Why did I put purple on it? Wtf

Let's use retina-scorching red instead!

Let's just scrub it with solvent and start again...

Voila! One layer... That was just one :(

What you don't see is that I make lots of mistakes... And it's perfectly normal to wipe, repaint and experiment.

Having no knowledge of colour theory (warm or cool) everything is pretty much trial and error. Luckily I have friends who DO know it, and that's why progress critiques are valuable to me. 

Also, lots and lots of paint thinner.

S.O.S. Venezuela

I bought two 3' x 3' canvasses knowing only two things. One of them, was that I wanted to paint my friend Rosaura, a fellow artist, and the other was that I wanted to use a certain shade of pink. When I think of Rosa I think of her pink backpack, her favourite colour, and her name "Pink Aura" in English. Yet she is no typical pink kind of girl. Even if she plays tennis and smells like flowers, she has a rare depth that few people I've met can match.

One of these many facets is Rosa's heritage. She is a Canadian citizen who was born in Venezuela. 

"Rosaura" (in progress), oil on canvas 3'x3'

In order to for my photographer (Hailey Logan) to takes the references photos I needed, I began to discuss the politics of Venezuela with Rosa. I saw a glimpse of her true feelings and that far off look told me she wanted to be there, fighting for the human rights her people deserve.

This spurned on my idea for the second painting. I asked a friend we had visiting from Venezuela if I could paint him. Once again, we used this process of discussing what he felt about his home, and through broken English, Manuel began to unfold just like Rosa had. 

I feel like the words of Venezuelan citizens are being silenced but the freedom of expression is here with them in Canada. They have the conviction of soldiers, and I hope my diptych will express it in the way I want it to. 

Thankyou to my soulful models and my talented photographer. S.O.S. Venezuela.