Somewhere between resignation and determination - scraping faces

 I posted this photo on social media yesterday and I realized that I have reaching a new stage in my artistic development.  I am no longer panicked and filled with doom when I have to scrape a face away and start over (not shown, the other three I scraped and didn't take a photo).

 I noticed all the "scrapes" in the past have been portraits. All faces need to be proportional of course but portraits have to be exact.  Otherwise they just aren't the same person.  Move a nose half an inch wider or an eye a quarter inch down and it is just not the same person!

 Generally when I am painting a face that is not a portrait I don't worry about it as much, I just figure it gives the subject more personality!  This time though I just looked at it and said "Nope, this isn't it". Now mind you I have no idea what Miss Now Blue Face wants to be yet. I will let you know when she "tells" me.

But it is very exciting to realize I am not longer scared to scrape or cover up something that isn't working. Instead of being scared I am now working from a place of somewhere between resignation (sigh, this isn't working) to confidence (you can do better, try again). I guess that is why they call it an art practice.

If you want to see other works in practice/progress or finished works  (including these with faces!) the best way to stay current is to visit my Instagram feed or Facebook page and follow along.

A Most Unconventional Abstract Wedding Portrait

I have a client I call an UnIntentional Muse (behind her back, I must confess). I met her years ago at my old shop in Falls Church where I always admired her graciousness and sense of style.  When she started her floral business I followed her journey both in real life and on social media.

While Deborah does beautiful glorious wedding and event work she was never too busy to whip up a corsage or boutonniere for my kids as they headed off to a high school dance.

I am very inspired by Deborah's color combinations.   Way back when, I was so taken with a casual bouquet Instagram post I asked her if I could paint it. (See the painting here.) Her tulips were an inspiration for some paintings this spring as well.

Marriage Muses

Deborah has always been a very positive about my art and really supportive as I try out ideas. When I saw this wonderful casual wedding photo of her son and his new bride I felt inspired to try something new. An abstract that alluded to the photo but that would be sort of a "hidden portrait". An art piece that you could hang on your wall that didn't necessarily say "We just got back from our honeymoon".

 I started out with a stretch canvas and blocked in basic forms.

 I played with adding and scraping back many layers of paint using palette knives, paint brushes and other tools. The hardest thing about this process is letting a layer dry before adding the next so it doesn't turn to mud! I tried to keep an eye on my inspiration photo to keep its proportions and lightness in mind.  This was tricky as I don't normally use this much white but it was fun to play with the texture of the paint and the multiple layers.

 Deborah was tickled with this unconventional approach - I am looking forward to trying this again with different photo.  Let me know if you have one you would like me to tackle!

Mountain Wedding by TW Stifel

See Deborah's other beautiful floral work www.thelittlegardenspot.com
Wedding photo courtesy of www.aaronwatsonphoto.com