I thought this photo of my daughter at prom this spring would be a really good one for the chiaroscuro, albeit that I also am working on two others for this same challenge which are larger. The photo has the dramatic lighting, and I thought it would be sort of fun.I worked with my paints (both Lumiere and Dynaflow, as well as regular acrylics with fabric medium) and Prismacolor, Inktense and Mondial pencils. The metalic of her earring and the sparkles on her dress were done with glitter gel pens. After I quilt it, I intend to add some itty bitty crystals. The piece measure 8 1/2" x 11" .
I'm not too happy with this at present, albeit the real thing is slightly darker than the image you see here as I had to use the flash on it in order to get it to come out since it's dark out (but hey, I still made the deadline!!!!). Trying to get the darks dark enough without it just looking like a dirty smudge is difficult. I was also struggling with getting her mouth right, and while it doesn't look like her, at least it is a reasonable drawing of a person!
Another challenge I faced with it was to get the eyes correct. Her eyes are actually green, and it doesn't come out well in the quilted image. I need to work a little more on it, especially on the side in shadow. they need to be darkened a bit more and highlights put in. The skin tone (the ruddiness of her cheeks) need to be worked on as well. The mouth shape could stand some improvement, but unfortunately I can't change that much anymore.
I also intend to work on her hands...she really doesn't have flippers. Perhaps using net over her hair would darken that and give the shadow I need....But I could really stand some suggestions on the face so that it doesn't look like she's growing a beard.
I think you have a great start on this one. Quilting it could be what will give it the shading and shaping it needs. If it were mine, I would print out the photo of the quilt on fabric and make that into a sandwich and practice shading the column with stitches to make it rounder, then begin on her elbow and underarm before working up my courage to do the shading on her neck and left side of her face. Sampling always gives me confidence and answers a lot of those what-if questions.
ReplyDeleteDiane/yarngoddess
I look forward to seeing this quilted. I think the quilting will add a lot more dimension to the the piece. Right now the black and beige are very flat. I think I'd also crop down a bit of the beige. You are off to a great start.
ReplyDeleteHi Lisa, You are brave to tackle this..it's not easy to portray expression and body postion, let alone the facial details. You've done a nice job and seem to understand what's missing and where to go next.
ReplyDeleteA couple suggestions: I would just crop it to avoid the hands, which don't show in the photo anyway. Consider adding more interest to the black and beige background by fusing some subtle shapes in other similiar colored or valued fabrics...or by some intricate quilting in a slightly lighter or darker thread.
Good job on the chiaroscuro too!
Cynthia
PS...love the dress in the photo and your piece!
Thanks for your comments. I will try printing it out on fabric and then thread painting it....if I can get my machine to start playing nice, good idea for the practice.
ReplyDeleteI hope to get back to this soon, I wasn't able to touch it today and I don't think I will tomorrow either. However, I have resolved to really go in and darken it. I think that I hesitate because it is much harder to "undo" if you "overdo" when you're going dark, but that is exactly what this needs.
You've done a good job with what I consider a very difficult project. Please do post once you have done the quilting. I, too, would crop the hands to make the project easier to finish.
ReplyDeleteWow Lisa! What a tall order you have given yourself.. and to have done so well. The suggestions are great and I am hoping we will see a finished piece.
ReplyDeleteBravo!!
Wow Lisa! What a tall order you have given yourself.. and to have done so well. The suggestions are great and I am hoping we will see a finished piece.
ReplyDeleteBravo!!