Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Beauty Remembers...progress....

Well, I left her alone for a while, maybe we both needed to ponder the next step.  But if I'm going to enter it into anything I need to stop being afraid I might screw it up, and start working.  This will be a process of layering, and I sometimes wonder whether I'm wasting time and effort in working each layer in such detail even though I know it may well disappear completely under the next.  Quite a lot of the pencil shading in Beauty's hair is disappearing under the paint and ink line work, and then there will be more working back into it over that, perhaps with coloured pencil, perhaps with black pen...I don't know yet.  But, I can't really see it as wasted effort, I know the work is there, and each layer teaches me something about how to proceed, it has its moment in the sun, even in it must be obscured by what comes after.  And layers make story, don't they.  The more layers there are to peel back, the more complex and interesting the story.

So here is Beauty so far, the first colour 'washes' from a few days ago, and then yesterday's effort, working back into her hair, adding more colour to her and the beast.  More to do, and I can't wait too long, so I will be busy tomorrow with it.  It's quite different to previous work, but I do like it.
The paint runs ARE intentional...I wanted to try something a little looser, I wanted to let it find its own way a little rather than carefully orchestrating everything.

However, I did decide that one running down the middle was a little too dominant and distracting...so I lightened it off a little.

Taken with flash above, and without, below.  The truth (as is so often the case!) lies somewhere between.  I've extended Beauty's hair, and worked colour into her and the beast.  I think I may need to darken their features a little to make them stand out, they're getting a little lost in the colour.  The trees on the horizon definitely need to be better defined.  I'm a little worried I might have to do the same with the text, but I really DON'T want to have to go to all that trouble if I can help it.

I still like the poem.

12 comments:

Valerianna said...

Christina - this is a stunning piece. For me, the subject and the approach materially are both extremely satisfying. Thanks for the progress report. Happy season shift!

jinxxxygirl said...

Love to see your work in progress. I think you should work in a way that you find satisfying and enjoy the most. If detailing each layer is it then continue that way. Hugs! deb

Els said...

It is so great that you let us be part of the progress of this wonderful piece! And all the what-if's, the carefully treading forward in the process of line and colour...
THANKS! Good luck with all your layers.

Windsongs and Wordhoards said...

She's looking amazing, I really love this! The colours you are using are really great and I do like the paint runs, they work and add to the dual sense of coverlet or hills,folds in cloth or streams on a hillside...
I must read your poem again now, its a powerful piece and I like it too...

yew tree nights said...

It's looking wonderful! Also, it's sort of comforting to find someone else has the same dilemma -- I do the same thing, adding loads of detail at each stage which will always be mostly obscured with the following stage. Like you, I'm always wavering between feeling that I get a better understanding of the piece and the feeling that I am just giving myself a lot of extra work. Ah well... so there are at least a couple of us out there, lost between the layers of paintings!

Barry said...

MIA- as others have said - a stunning work - and thanks for sharing the development process; and of course I love that you have incorporated the poem as textures as well as text. Hope this work finds a good home. Go well. B

Mo Crow said...

such a beautiful piece Christina! love those exquisite points of the ears on your wolf and about the layers I think of traces & palimpsest & how really it's all in the process, loving it even when it frustrates the hell out of you, like any passionate affair... & how long does a work take to make? as long as it needs... that's how it goes... some dream things take years to get right some take seconds and are perfectly formed at the point of delivery... as makers we don't really get a lot of say in that, just have to work 'til it's done!

S said...

The greatest of all fears is the fear of being afraid.
Well done - she is a beauty.

trish said...

Beautiful, really beautiful.

Raven Moon Magic said...

I love the way you chose to dribble the paint for a bit of loosening up, we are so the same that way. I love watching your progress, and I think the finished painting is going to look stunning, its such a interesting concept and tells such a huge story even before you do read the poem, its like a multi dimensional painting that can be seen in so many different ways. I love it

xxx
sheree

Julia Guthrie said...

It's looking beautiful! x

Velma Bolyard said...

i like how your text waves into landscape

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