last august i collaged over a 14" x 18" canvas in about five minutes. it was to be a very quick exercise. and then, for ten months, i never did anything with it...until today.
normally, when i sit down to work i have something rattling around in my head and it comes out one way or another onto the canvas. when i don't have something pressing to say or work through i look for inspiration nearby. when painting portraits i prefer to have a photo reference or image to work from. my untrained mind is still adjusting to the proper application of shadows. without some sort of reference it is more difficult for me to slow down and use both sides of my brain for painting. with a bit of reference i can see where all the shadows fall, what sort of shape they are, the level of contrast needed, etc. and then move on to creating the color palette i am interested in, adjusting the shapes and angles to my desire and so on. more often than not the photo reference is a photo of myself. if my painting is less than flattering, no one gets their feelings hurt. and sometimes i'll just use a mirror. i'm not going anywhere so it's easy to paint myself.
since this canvas already had photos of my eyes on it i decided a self-portrait of sorts was on the agenda. i like to change the angles, to exaggerate the bones and colors when doing portraits. so each time i start with the basic image of myself, it turns into an imagined version of me. it is always fun to play this way.
i took some photos along the way to share here. i imagine that people who don't paint regularly get a bit freaked when their pieces hit the ugly stage. when i used to paint my black and white photos that was something to which i had to learn to grow accustomed. so as a ploy to get more of you painting (and loving it) i'm baring my ugly right here. it's just part of the process. i say, hold tight to what you are creating, follow on through past ugly, and work until you can appreciate what you have imagined and brought to life.
here's what the canvas looked like when i began. i did this, as i said, in about five minutes in anne grgich's class last august at art unraveled (she is amazing!!). she had us quickly collage two large canvases. i ended up working only on one and never touched this one.
my photo reference was this picture of me back when i worked for the nfl. i had a polaroid to shoot potential models we were casting but i will admit to shooting lots of self portraits. this is one. will you look at my baby face! no wrinkles! now remember, this is just for reference. i'm not trying to paint something realistic that looks just like this photo.
here we go. i blocked in the shapes with gesso. with so many different colors in the background it is good to level the playing field with a bit of white. and, besides, i just really like gesso. i use it all the time. and, between layers i will grab up a pencil or the end of my brush and write into it. little secrets just for me.
i decided to go with one of my old favorites, yellow ochre, for the skin tones. it's funny but in most things in life i do not care for the color yellow. but when i paint it is one of the colors i snatch up repeatedly. yellow ochre sings for me. i'm keeping the highlights a bit more white for now. and i am also working with glazes so i can see a bit of the collaged pieces through the skintones. why, you ask. because that's how i like it!
i'm all about the big ugly now. i'm working on blending the photos of my eyes into the painting. and i'm beginning those eyebrows. i'm just playing and layering it all on. i'm not planning too much. i did start out with the canvas flat on the table which is really not the best way to paint. after i got the shapes blocked in i put it up on a chest of drawers on a table easel. it is good to be able to view the piece upright as it will hang (that's what the one painting teacher i ever had told me and i agree wholeheartedly).
as you can see the collaged papers are very wrinkled and that comes into play more once the paint goes on. this particular piece also had lots of long wrinkles with air in them. i took my xacto knife and sliced the bubbles down the entire length. i could have re-glued these places with matte medium underneath. but i didn't feel like it and i liked the cuts. so she is wrinkled and cut. geez. that really does sound like some deep metaphor for me but it was completely unintentional. on the other hand, the upcoming rainbow hair was on purpose!
at this point i'm adding more colors. i was mixing the yellow with a couple different red shades for the lips and skin. and i'm building the eyebrows with raw umber glaze one tiny brushstroke at a time. thank heavens for the heat gun.
i reworked the eyebrows a tad. i used a bit of golden's micaeous iron oxide around the eyes and in the brows for contrast and sparkle.
a little bit closer now (shout!) a little bit closer now (shout!)...nothing like the isley brothers for the end of the night.
ta-dah! here 'tis all completed. we left for dinner and i finished it after i got home. had to use the lamp for enough light to take this photo but you can see it all right, i hope. i stamped and stenciled in the lower left corner. i played with some pencils and gave her tears. and then her rainbow hair came from my happy, happy box of caran d' ache neocolor II crayons. they blended nicely with the original collage that was up there.
my favorite parts are the bit of text from the rhyme of the ancient mariner along her neck on the lower right, the shapes and textures which are visible under the paint (those always make me smile and bounce like a child with a big balloon. ha. i'm easily amused, what can i tell you), and her tears. i was using a watercolor pencil around her eyes then wetting it and i just had to play and make it run. so it's not a sad sort of cry. she was laughing so hard that her mascara ran. then she ate a bug and made that face.
i hope you enjoyed my little show and tell today! and i hope you'll show me what you are creating when you have some play time, too.
Very cool Miz Kelly!! I took Anne's class at Artfest a couple of years ago and never really played with the techniques I learned-thanks for reminding me how much fun these paintings are.
xoxs
C
Posted by: Miz Carla | June 10, 2007 at 06:57 AM
Thank you for sharing the process~and your heart, spirit and mind.
You just taught me a bundle. The sites are my art school, when artists share the "how-to". Yours was especially well written too. She is really somethin'. I'll check back more often.
Thanks~
Janet
Posted by: Janet Kriz | June 10, 2007 at 10:27 AM
OMG, you are killing me! This is so beyond fantastic! Thank you for showing all the steps! I never finished either of my pieces from Anne's class yet I stare at them every day considering them. You have motivated me and I need to get busy!
Posted by: Angie Platten | June 10, 2007 at 04:33 PM
You are so generous....thank you for the art lesson....you made it real for me....this is something that I just have to try and now I know how.....
xoxo
Posted by: Bonnie | June 10, 2007 at 05:45 PM
Freaking awesome!
I can't believe how you brought scraps of paper to that magnificent piece of art! Thank you for sharing your thought process!
Posted by: maigirlz | June 10, 2007 at 07:31 PM
Thanks for sharing your process, Kelly... the painting is amazing! You are as beautiful now as you were then, inside and out. When God looks down on the craziness down here and wonders why he bothered, he just looks at you remembers "that's why!"
I'm goin' paintin'...
Kim
Posted by: Kim | June 10, 2007 at 07:38 PM
I am loving this - it is great to see your whole process, from start to finish.
The result is just wonderful!
Hugs,
kari x
Posted by: Kari | June 10, 2007 at 11:37 PM
very kool! makes me want to drag out my paints...i got a note from a friend of mine from college just the other day! how weird was that...haven't talked to her for hmmmm well since college..LONG TIME...just surfing around and SHE FOUND ME...lol...wanted to know if i was still painting...hee hee...
thanks for sharing your layers of glorious art! always eyecandy for the soul.
Posted by: Barbara Burkard | June 11, 2007 at 04:30 AM
This is just WONDERFUL!
Posted by: Caryl | June 11, 2007 at 07:25 AM
Thanks so much for sharing this painting, step by step-it's wonderful! I think I tried something like this once, and when it got ugly (and I DO mean ugly!) I panicked and covered it up with gesso. Would be interesting to try it again, stick with it, and see what happens.
Posted by: Sue | June 11, 2007 at 08:30 AM
Thank you for sharing your process. I am a huge gesso fan and use it for everything. Isn't it wonderful? I love yellow ochre too. You did a great job showing the various stages of the painting. Sometimes, we need to get a little ugly, to get a lot of beautiful. :D
Posted by: Pilar | June 11, 2007 at 07:16 PM
Kelly ...thanks for sharing the making of this beautiful collage ....I always marvel at your pieces and wonder what your mind goes through as you produce your gorgeous art ... paula
Posted by: Paula | June 12, 2007 at 06:39 AM
Hey Kelly....I can't believe how awesome this became from such humble beginnings!! lol Don't you just love gesso!!
BTW...are you going to be at Art Unraveled again in August? Maybe I will see you there...and you will figure out who I am this time!! lol
KAryn
Posted by: Karyn Gartel (The ALtered Diva) | June 13, 2007 at 03:19 PM