Making a Maquette for Reference (Patreon)

After I had the initial idea, did some sketches from imagination and took some reference photos, I started slopping together some clay into a maquette. 

I used some armature wire for the branches.

One of my Choir paintings in the background.

The cat helped. So did the mannequin. I used the mannequin to hep with proportions.

Part of the idea is this fabric which appears to be draped over a head, but there is nothing under it. A ghost type thing, although that's not exactly how I think about it. 

Anyways. That part was tricky to figure out. I tried dipping some tissue paper in matte medium and letting it dry in that shape. But it didn't hold the form very well. 

Long story short, I ended up making a ball of foil in the shape of a head and shoulders, based on the proportions of the mannequin.

Then I made a sheet of flat clay and draped it over the top of the foil head.  

Then I baked it so that it would hold that form, and I made a little stand thing that can hold it up.

This helps with the form and the general lighting scheme. I will have to remember that the fabric will be effected by the light a little bit differently because it is a more transparent material than clay is.

Next I made a bed for my model to sit on. It's just a skinny box with a shop towel over it, and I glued parts of it scrunched together so that it would have some draping and stay put.

I dipped some tissues in water and draped them over the branches and legs of the figure.

Last but not least, I want those legs to be dipping into some water. I thought about using a container and filling it with water. But that seemed like a potential disaster. Plus, the water would be a little too reflective  in a shallow container like that. Unless I painted it black maybe, which I wasn't really inclined to do. 

So I took a box, cut some holes where the legs would be going into the water, and put a piece of black card stock on top of the box. Then I took a piece of plastic wrap and put that on top of the card stock.

Now I've got my maquette.

I know I've said this before but the reason why I find this useful is so that I can see the light and shadow over the whole thing. 

This painting involves a few different elements: some fabric draping, some tree branches, some legs. 

I will be using different photo references to paint those things. But If I only use separate photo references, I will be working with 3 distinct light sources. Because each photo is lit differently. 

This maquette allows me to see it all as one.

It's pretty crude. Especially if you look at the legs, which are going to be  realistic women's legs in the painting, but here they're just lumpy shapes. But between this and the photo reference of the legs, I'll get there, with the minimum amount of guess work.

For the cave painting I traced the exact composition I was working with and then used that as the template for the sculpting process.

I didn't do that for this one and I wish I had. 

Because now I have a model that is similar to what I am going to paint but distinctly different. Different enough to where I have to do a little extra work to translate it to what I'm actually painting. 

So next I started doing a "comprehensive sketch" of the painting and some color studies. The picture at the top of this post is the comprehensive sketch in progress and I'll share more about both of these stages in the next post about this process.

This is still a new part of the process to me.  So I'm still figuring it out.

I hope it helps you in some way or it is at least somewhat interesting to you.

Happy March 11th Everybody

The grotesque portraits were a success. I was churning them out the whole night. 

I had one girl tell me that she was almost in tears. Like a catharsis type of thing about getting her demons out or something like that.

I don't know. but it was satisfying to do. 

One of my favorite artists, Christopher Ulrich, was at the show. I had no idea it was him until after the show. We all went out to Beelman's which is a bar down the street.

I ended up sitting across from Christopher and eating a burger and tater tots while he ate a chicken sandwich and fries. 

Someone introduced us and I got really excited about meeting him. I had to pull it back because I could tell it was making him feel awkward. 

But I'll tell you all the stuff I held back. His art and his thoughts about being an artist have been a huge influence on me.

I heard him on a podcast a few years ago and he said stuff that I still think about and try and live by to this day. 

There's certain paintings of his that I think about when I'm stuck with my paintings. 

His work also got me interested in doing this more "traditional/rennaisance but weird" type of art.

The dude is a legend in the niche art world that I'm in.

Anyways. He told me that he loved the grotesque portraits. And that was just the coolest thing to me.

It was just one of those art show nights where on the drive home I just feel high on life.

I woke up in the middle of the night to go kneel at the porcelain throne if you know what I mean. I got some sort of food poisoning from that burger I ate or something. A lot of puke.

It was a really great night.

Have Fun

Goodnight Sweeties