Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Goldie WIP

All right, I've almost got this portrait done! Spent all day working on this and bathing cats (yes, plural - three to be exact). I'm very happy with how much I got done!

Lots of tweaking to do now. I see something with her left eye (as we see it) that needs to be fixed, and some areas above her left eye that also need to be tweaked, and several small areas that need the values fixed a bit. I'll sit and look at it for a day to see what I else I need to tweak, then I'll have to spend at least one whole day spraying.

This painting will get two layers of permanent fixative, then three layers of varnish before it is ready to be handed over to my client. It's better to do all of that spraying over the course of at least two days, which means I have to finish tweaking tomorrow so I can start spraying. I hate to be rushed like that because whenever I am, I always find something glaringly wrong later on that screams to be changed but I won't be able to do anything about it. However, my client really wants it for his wife's birthday, and I really want him to have it on time. Since we are going away to Seattle for the CPSA Annual Convention from July 27th - August 3rd, I need to have this done before we go.

2 comments:

  1. Beautiful!!
    I especially love the eyes!

    Just a quick question: I only ever spray my cp pieces with one coat of fixative. I've never thought to do more. I'm actually always scared to spray them at all for fear of the color changing. Does the varnish make it more durable?

    :)

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  2. Thank you Kasie!

    I only use varnish on pieces done on pastelbord or colourfix board. These are surfaces that are either impossible or extremely difficult to mat. In addition, the way I use my pencils, I make them look like a painting not a drawing. Since the attitude in the art world is still biased against pencils, especially colored pencils, and pencils are not taken seriously as a medium of fine art, using a support that does not need to be matted, and varnishing it so it can be framed without glass makes it look even more like an oil painting. It also shows just what kind of work colored pencils can produce.

    I use two coats of permanent fixative because sometimes the varnish will darken the colors. Other artists have said that one or two coats of permanent fixative pretty much stops that. I use two to three coats of Krylon Kamar spray varnish to protect the painting from the elements. Also, the client can choose to put it behind glass if they so desire. I just like to protect it as much as I can, especially since they pay so much for it.

    Thanks for the comments Kasie!!

    Nancy

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