Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Shannon Happy - 2


Help Wanted: Will pay  small amount of $$ for someone to fill in the rest of the background black using a riduculously small rendering instrument...

The portrait of Shannon doing a back bend... The Fisher 400 paper came in a roll... need I say more? Note the use of tape in the other photograph. 

I didn't change much on the face except for adding a bit of orange on the shaded side of her face. Mostly I worked on her shirt today, but I also added some colors into her hair. Click on it to see it larger. 

I started a still-life but not enough was done on it to post. I will soon!

11 comments:

Melody Lea Lamb said...

What a pleasure to see this portrait evolve! Beautifully done and the smile looks awesome (you had mentioned how challenging drawing a smile can be)!

Unknown said...

This beautiful. Is it a challenge to keep that black from falling on the portrait? I can see why one could go crazy filling all that background with such a tiny point. I love the sparkle she has in her eye.

Elflling said...

Now I understood why prismacolor invented Art Stix... Just to fill in the background... The amount of work is daunting...

Carolina said...

"...using a riduculously small rendering instrument..." :D
One more effort and you're done, go Nicole, go!

Elizabeth Seaver said...

I laughed out loud! No takers, yet, I see.

The dark, simple back ground is the perfect foil for this lively portrait. Soldier on!

Jan Pope said...

I am constantly amazed at the size of the piece that you do with that small rendering instrument and the way you capture your subjects so well. AND, you post regularly to your blog! How do you keep yourself motivated? I go through stages that I don't even want to do sketches sometimes for months at atime.

Unknown said...

Thanks Melody! I just did the "less is more" rule for the mouth! I just got an email from Ann Kullberg's FMP and it had a pic of this cool mouth demo: http://www.annkullberg.com/proddetail.php?prod=SMMOUTH&cat=18

Shelia - not really too bad of a time with the black I just try to remember to blow it off away from the face!


Thanks guys!!!

Carolina - I LOVE your avatar! & Elizabeth yours freaks me out, lol!

Oh thank you Jan!!! I do take time off a lot too... oh and I have no job other than my art! :-)

Ian Goddard said...

The painting is, as all your work is, stunning! Why not use a black pastel to cover the background since you're using pastel paper?

Gary Keimig said...

I wondered also why not use a black pastel? It is coming together really great. Should be a fine piece of art.

Unknown said...

Good question! One I really like the look of the Polychromos black all smudged in - its a good black. BUT also I don't really LIKE mixing media! Especially for backgrounds only - I think you can tell something is different from the rest of the pic- pastel is hicker than the pencils. :-)

Ian Goddard said...

I too am a Polychromos user. There are Polychromos pastels that are color-matched to the Polychromos pencils, though I've not used them. I've also hesitated to mix media, but have thought about it for time-consuming backgrounds.

What I'm most amazed about is how fast you work (and yet with such awesome results). Using little circular strokes for smooth shading on paper, it takes me hundred of hours to finish a color-pencil piece. Following your lead I'm going to try sanded surfaces, and also glassless framing. Thanks so much Nicole for sharing your experience and expertise with us!