For the last six days I have been working intensely on this large 90 x 50cm watercolour painting. It might not be a mural but it's large enough for me!
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCK_w5yAqGilFphLlX4IdVrHBO2ygaBaB3JQb0YqH1pN_OmP2LFpaTZmz2YmB-McD2-6nqQ-BxHvRIF9RJ7qOfkDMaYeKBOgSyrErgXHW3zA4rfANKdUjE0W6s-LOi-wWpa8dgSIkAeK0/s640/Circus+Underpainting.jpg) |
Fuzzy photo time! Still using the drafting I was given when I was a school boy. |
You can see I returned to the usual sepia tonal under-painting to maintain a warm hue throughout the image. I decided if all the action is inside a tent lit by gas lamps, without natural light, then all the shadows are going to be warm.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbNHFRfzXeILPfSAIuBsWYazTKKVKnXFMWvcAD01ry_ezoTvbSLiSDe4pA0yiWE3hw_MOanrXUZ1doG0mVS88egbVA1nh2NrHNgllzxwQtREhwbsJZIwlIB31HP6jKM2zhBBHJDTGfni4/s640/Circus+WIP+Blog.jpg) |
Fuzzy / wonky photo! Note the reflected warm light on the underside of the elephants. |
Once the under-painting was completed, I blocked in all the local colour for every single character and object. In the process of 'blocking-in', I suddenly realised I needed to roughly outline most of the audience, using sepia, in order to create a mass of shapes that would convince the viewer they were looking at a group of seated animals. This took a l o n g time, not surprisingly, but as I introduced local colour, when I returned to 'blocking-in', the effect was as intended and so worth the effort.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzVmJY734PGPA-LCPu0J_j5RYr8m3dC1gXGEQOvFqs1894D2VOexkWpHqchj1jdL4QdqlNc6a_GoU_q4hyK3Z0LS_-PA3RNR1Zk8nCvpY9DFXgK0Bs10DXk8A7u1Ux8qXdIfhLWLRhKms/s640/Circus+WIP2+Blog.jpg) |
Final fuzzy photo! The current state of the painting, waiting in my studio for Monday morning. |
Local colour down, I started to really render each individual character in the parade as best I could, starting from the left and moving across. I'm still in that tight rendering process now, but I'm happy with my progress. At this rate, I should be finished late next week - unless I run away to the circus.
No comments:
Post a Comment