It has taken a while, but I've finally realised that a particular door I've been banging on isn't going to open because its not meant to. This has required considerable mental re-adjustment but hey ho, so I am beginning again. However, lest I should later accuse myself of giving up too easily, I wrote this page as a justification for being where I am. It works for me.
It began with me messing about with 3 colours of paint - that ombre thing of shading colours which is all the rage at the moment might have influenced me? Whatever, it was fun using water to try and get the colours to blend seamlessly - acrylics tend to resist doing that. I added the thoughtful lady just because I like her - Modigliani again, I do love his work. The people he paints seem so human and fallible somehow?
Then I decided it looked a bit too clean and pure, so I added a wobbly black line around the outside (using the blunt end of a Promarker) and some grey paint for shading, then followed it up with a crackle effect stamp in grey and black. That muddied the waters nicely. There's also pencil shading around the figure - I'm quite into doing that lately.
The art word and the numbers are just because they looked nice, and then I wrote on top with the chisel end of a black Promarker - I find they work pretty well over paint, though not everything does. At some stage I also tried rubbing gesso on with my finger, but didn't much like the effect - it looked better in the You Tube video I watched.
You can see above and below the difference between the basic letters and the finished ones - its a doodly kind of process thickening them up and extending the feet. For the finer detail I change to a Pilot drawing pen - I have them in various nib thicknesses.
And although it looked nearly finished at that point, I got out the Posca Paint pens in order to add doodle dots - as you can see the opacity of these pens is great because I could even add yellow over red and get a good crisp finish.
So there you are - finished page and a resolution made and acted upon. I am NOT defeated, just taking the realistic decision to regroup and re-form, and see where that takes me. I wouldn't want you to think I was giving up, obviously!
2 comments:
Hi Rosie, wanted to comment about one of your last years pages after the ordination of a woman bishop in New Zealand last week. Love your work, and have started to use the neocolour crayons I have ( only about 6) on a couple of pages....thank you
Heather Akers.
I'm going to copy your beautifully expressed sentiment down, Rosie, because it resonates so loudly with me. I love all the little touches here, like the little dots in the corners. And thank-you for the information on how you put it together - those Posca pens are clearly worth having. Hoping you are feeling clearer now :).
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