Tuesday, December 1, 2015

WORKING WHILE AWAY

In my last post, I told you that we had returned to the Calgary area for a time to help my son with some house renovations. We only have a couple of days left... and of course, the renovations have taken much longer than anticipated, but quite a lot got done. The "boys" are happy with the results, to say nothing of my daughter-in-law, and the grandsons!

The weather has actually been really good, for the most part! Only a couple of cold, snowy days - the rest has been those bright blue Alberta skies and temperatures between -5* C and +8* C. Comfortable for sure.

I brought some artwork with me - a charcoal/pan pastel commission. It is to be a wedding gift for the couple in the portrait, based on one of their favorite wedding photos. It is coming along nicely, and after I work on it some more today, I think I will be ready to start with the details. ("The devil is in the details!") I'll wait until we return to Vancouver Island before I start on those, as I require really good lighting, which I have in my studio.

Here are a couple of pictures of the progress. I began with the bride side and worked it up to a certain point, then moved to the groom side and worked until it was at a similar point of completion. Today I will finish working on his clothing, and refine some of his features, then move back to the bride to adjust some of the value in her face. I know they look weird without eyelashes, but I tend to leave those until the end, as part of the detailing.  I'll show you the completed piece once I am home and have finished it. (Have I told you how much I enjoy doing these charcoal commissions? Really fun to do!)

You can see how I cover areas to protect them from smudging while I work. You can also see I wear gloves.

These are layers which will be adjusted as I work more on the whole piece.





1 comment:

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