Portrait of a Witch
Wow, where did the month go? Tomorrow is Halloween! Unreal.
So today I should finally share my large canvas project for this month and a little story to go with it. Creative and artist types will understand completely.
But first, let's see what I made.
Portrait of a Witch: This is a 16 x 24 stretched canvas and I knew what I wanted to do with it in my head. I wanted the head of a traditional, child-unfriendly, cook those little buggers in the oven type of gal. A portrait...like the ones by the classic masters. Like Mona Lisa or the Girl with the Pearl Earring. So I knew what I wanted but I balked that my skills were not ready. You see, I also wanted it to be my own style. And Style is something I struggle with...what is my style?
I like mixed-media, multi-layered, messy backgrounds and torn paper focal elements. So I decided to start there. I took a note from a past canvas that had smaller canvases glued onto it for embellishment. But I still procrastinated and balked at beginning because I knew it was a face and faces were hard. At least, I figured they were.
There are very few faces that I've drawn that I like. I usually use a stencil to help me get a more realistic look or to make sure it's properly proportioned. But this was a larger canvas and my stencils weren't gonna help here. I worked on other projects. (Have you seen all my past Halloween posts? Yeah, I worked on those. Anything but this.) Finally, I broke down and began to rip out the paper pieces I'd need. A hat, the green head, the shirt. I painted the letters and worked on the small canvases. Then, I slowed down, again. There was the feeling that the face wouldn't look "right".
And what was the fuel for my dread? The eyes. I still feel very uncomfortable about making "real" eyes. Googly eyes, simple eyes...ok. But eyes that seemed to stare back at you...nope. Wasn't sure I could do it. So...I knew I wanted tentacles for hair. I worked on that. Then, I did the Morella canvas. I did eyes and they looked pretty good to me. I was happy with them. But they didn't work on that piece...they were too small. So I pulled them off but I saved them. They fit on my portrait rather well. And I was HAPPY with the way it looked. We creative types so often feel that our own work is not quite good enough when we look at it. But others never see the pieces...they see the whole picture. The whole picture is what its all about and that becomes perfection as everything balances out in the end.
I did the background in mostly acrylic but added some texture paste in the blue bubbles. I tried to get more green in the background but the acrylic spray was more transparent and didn't show up too well once it dried. But it wasn't too important because the witch would take up so much space. I finally finished her up around October 8. I could have finished it so much sooner, if I had just taken the plunge.
So I learned a lot from this canvas. I like it. As artists we will always see our own imperfections but we can't let that hold up our process. We can find our way to the end, to completion and we may actually like it. Now my Witch is no Mona Lisa but she is my style and she defines the moment for me.
Thanks for stopping by and for checking out my whole month of October posts.
Only one more to go and I think you'll like it.
Check out my Facebook page to stay updated on new posts here and new items in my Etsy store!
-Wy
So today I should finally share my large canvas project for this month and a little story to go with it. Creative and artist types will understand completely.
But first, let's see what I made.
Portrait of a Witch: This is a 16 x 24 stretched canvas and I knew what I wanted to do with it in my head. I wanted the head of a traditional, child-unfriendly, cook those little buggers in the oven type of gal. A portrait...like the ones by the classic masters. Like Mona Lisa or the Girl with the Pearl Earring. So I knew what I wanted but I balked that my skills were not ready. You see, I also wanted it to be my own style. And Style is something I struggle with...what is my style?
I like mixed-media, multi-layered, messy backgrounds and torn paper focal elements. So I decided to start there. I took a note from a past canvas that had smaller canvases glued onto it for embellishment. But I still procrastinated and balked at beginning because I knew it was a face and faces were hard. At least, I figured they were.
There are very few faces that I've drawn that I like. I usually use a stencil to help me get a more realistic look or to make sure it's properly proportioned. But this was a larger canvas and my stencils weren't gonna help here. I worked on other projects. (Have you seen all my past Halloween posts? Yeah, I worked on those. Anything but this.) Finally, I broke down and began to rip out the paper pieces I'd need. A hat, the green head, the shirt. I painted the letters and worked on the small canvases. Then, I slowed down, again. There was the feeling that the face wouldn't look "right".
I did the background in mostly acrylic but added some texture paste in the blue bubbles. I tried to get more green in the background but the acrylic spray was more transparent and didn't show up too well once it dried. But it wasn't too important because the witch would take up so much space. I finally finished her up around October 8. I could have finished it so much sooner, if I had just taken the plunge.
Thanks for stopping by and for checking out my whole month of October posts.
Only one more to go and I think you'll like it.
Check out my Facebook page to stay updated on new posts here and new items in my Etsy store!
-Wy
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