This picture shows a piece at the very early stages of my painting process with only one layer of color overall. It was blocked in very easily for one important reason, I spent more time in the process stage.
Process is important!
After the photo-shoot, I began manipulating my images digitally in Photoshop (top left and the enlargement on the right). This gave me a rough sense of the feel and the composition that I wanted, but it was very cluttered and disconnected.
I drew a simplified contour drawing to scale. I took a picture of my drawing and printed several thumbnail sized images to work on. Using charcoal and a chalk pencil, I was able to group shapes and create a more interesting composition.
Again, I printed my drawing. This time, I worked 8.5" x 11" to create a more nuanced value study based off of the thumbnails.
I printed my drawing one final time. Using soft pastel I created a color study that took color information from the Photoshop study, but followed the simplified shapes and values of the charcoal study.
One last thing before painting. I printed small images that serve as artistic inspiration for this piece. They are masterful paintings that make me want to become a better artist (top left to right: Jeremy Mann, Michael Dudash, Odilon Redon).
Blocking in the first layer of color flowed easily because I already had a clear image of what I intended. The next step is work over the entire painting while trying to capture some of the brushwork and color from my inspiration pieces. It is going to be fun!
~ Lisa
Final Painting
Harmony
Oil on Panel
18" x 24"
artist Lisa Larrabee
