My last painting, Brave Girl, gave me the push I needed to be really brave and step out of my comfort zone. After years of firmly believing I couldn't draw, I took the step to start doing it anyways, regardless of the outcome, and without trashing myself every step of the way. And I can see great improvement from my first tentative sketches, which I keep close by to remind myself of where I started, to my last girl. Yes, I still am over critical of every single face I draw, but at least now I'm able to see the good parts instead of just focusing on what didn't quite work. And I'm proud of myself for doing that, considering that I never act that way before.
My Brave Girl inspired me to go for a 3/4 view portrait, something I've always been terrified of, it was hard enough to be able to draw a full frontal one, but anything other than that? Heavens, no! I can't do that! Oh, well, enough of "can'ts", it's about time I just let my fears go and at least try. And here is my first attempt. It took me forever to get the shape of the head right and even though I can't quite tell what, I know there's something not right about the eyes. However, I do see the things that actually work and I'm going to proceed with painting her regardless. And reward myself with some chocolate, if not for any reason other than the fact that I was indeed "brave" and took the step to do something out of my comfort zone.
I'm working in a different way this time. Might as well, since the portrait itself is a new thing for me. Instead of having the background ready, I sketched her directly onto a stretched canvas and started working on the background by gluing small bits of crumpled white tissue paper all around her. I'm not really sure where I'm going with it yet, but once I start painting her face, I'll let the rest of the process flow naturally, I want this to have an organic feel so I'm not going to stress too much about what to do next. I'll try to remember to photograph the process so I can post another step-by-step. I know "I" love to see how other artists work so I think sharing mine will be interesting.
Have a super creative week :)
Hugs,
Jade
1 comment:
OH MY GOSH! Even after reading this post I am more in awe with what you are doing. I didn't know you were "new" to this creative world. Honestly, Jade, you are doing an outstanding job! And Yes, try to remember to take those photos of your process.
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