Back to dead coloring angel of death

After sitting and looking at the piece again I decided I definitely had to tweak it a bit more in terms of the angle of the body in the composition as well as make the skull bigger on the birds body.

I drew in charcoal right on top of the previous design. I had the bird arch its head further so that it looked a bit more like it was turning around to face the viewer. I also raised the talon up a bit higher and made the skull larger and tilted at a slight angle to work well with the angle of shoulder of the wing.

Here is the small skull model I am using as a reference point for my drawing. The lighting will be different based on my knowledge of the shape, but who knows I may use this quick snapshot more than I anticipate.

I laid out the colours I intended to use for the basic filling in of the body. Cobalt and Cerulean Blue, Green and yellow, Deep, light and cadmium red and Titanium white for mixing. I blended up a 3:1 linseed oil to mineral spirits medium with one drop of cobalt drier to help speed things up a bit.

I blocked in the basic colors of the parrots body as well as the skull with some shadowing to help see the forms. I then took some burnt sienna and put in some of the background tone.

This is where I have the most fun. I use the paint tube as if it were a crayon. The lines are quick and natural and expressive. At times I wonder if this is not my true art form and that I should try to go further with it, and not try to paint things at all. That may be more ballsy that I'm ready for.

I blocked in the remaining background with Burnt Sienna right on the canvas. It really flattens the image out but once it dries there will be much more detailed work done on top. For now, it has richly colored masses to work on.

GANESH dead coloring

dead coloring begins to bring Ganesh to life.

As is my practice, I work on many pieces at once. My method keeps my mind keen and helps keep me busy rather than watching paint dry. It is oil paint after all. I am currently working back and forth between the two paintings, I have posted here recently. This is how the elephant god, Ganesh is progressing.

I  blocked in some bold mustard hue for the skin tone. It was mixed with Raw Sienna, a tinge of Cadmium Orange and lightened with some Naples yellow. The consistency was perfectly creamy, just how I like it, liquid love. It is slightly transparent, once brushed on you can see some of the shadow areas beneath. 

I filled in some orange for the fruit. I was feeling Cezanne come thru on the color but I think I may make the fruit peaches, not certain yet. I blended a nice soft blue made of cobalt blue and titanium white for the mid tones of the fabric. Some of the charcoal particles mixed in but I still have lots of work to do on this part anyhow. I blended the leftover blue and mustard yellow to make the grey/green base for the bowl and tusk.

 I also had enough juice left in me to paint a fancy lotus with a fragile stem. I am happy with the progress, however, didn't feel confident enough to tackle the axe or background so instead I turned my sights on the Rama fall of light, will post tomorrow;)

Thanks to everyone who has been reading my posts!

RAMA gets dead coloring

If yesterday was a battle, today was a victory.

It may seem flat and simple like a silk screen print but this is the very foundation that the painting is built upon, the dead coloring stage.

 I began the next step the drawing stage which follows the charcoal sketching stage. I outlined and created shadow areas for all the skin areas of the RAMA painting.This allows me to define the edges and a few of the details. Though it looks cartoony, it really helps to visualize the character better.

The paint used to outline the piece is thinned with odorless spirits. Though the reference is well lit and doesn't have super dark shadows I used this stage as on opportunity to play with the dark areas a bit. I cut back in some of the edges with red acrylic before proceeding to the next step.

The richness of oil cannot be underestimated, it is what makes me happy about the progress and quality of the work. I filled in the major skin tone areas with a medium value made from flake/lead white and red umber (Old Holland brand). I also decided that the background that was blocked in with red acrylic looked terrible! Actually the word I used was "shitty". Oil is so dramatically rich.  I used almost half a tube of Windsor and Newton Cadmium deep hue, but it was worth it! In this picture you can compare the top half in oil and the bottom in acrylic.

Here is the canvas, entirely painted over in oil. It is rich and full. I painted over the kilt with an even tone of the read. Now I am thinking about using gold design aspects to create visual interest for the piece. As in all art, more questions than answers are developing at this point, that's the challenge and  that's also half the FUN!