Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Siouxsie oh Siouxie



It's taken me quite some time to finish this one. It could be the size, it could be the content or it could be the fact that it's going to a relative. I would assume it's all three.

This is a painting for my Brother in Law Eric. He likes Siouxsie and the Banshees and wanted a painting of Siouxie Sioux.

If you were in Mr. B's art class with me you would probably recognize this type of painting, since we did self portraits like this at one time. I can't remember what year I was in.. or what class even. I think AP Art. I'm not sure. All I know is that at one point 3 of 4 of my classes were with the same teacher on the same day, and it was all art. (I think once I just stayed in the classroom for a whole day, I don't think he noticed either.) Oh I loved high school. Well at least my art classes.

Anyways... this took time. I worked on it almost every night. I got pretty frustrated with it and myself. Problems with the eye and the left side of the face which I can still see are problematic. I look at the painting and I just want to fix all these problems that I see.... but they never go away. The painting is never finished.

I don't have any art teachers, or any fellow art students near me to hear their impressions. All Taylor says is... "It's lookin good Rach." So I ask.. what needs to be fixed? He replies... "She looks sad." Thanks Taylor.

Finally after days of just tweaking little parts, bringing in cheekbones... rounding eyes... changing shades.. I finally had to put down the brush and say.. She is done.

I will probably look at this painting in six months and be able to fix exactly what is wrong with it. I'm okay with that, I will wait.


So here is Siouxsie Sioux. Black and white acrylic, posterized version from photos. 24x30 on stretched canvas.

First of course you will see the progress, because that is always fun.


I didn't get to bring my easel with me to the great state of California. This made painting a bit difficult.


Our apartment also doesn't have any light fixtures, our living room's only light source is that there lamp.



Even with the lampshade off there was little light.



That's me with paint of my face. Thanks for telling me Taylor.



I mix paint on my fingers... I'm looking into getting a "Ring Palette" so that I don't die from paint poisoning.





Here is the "Finished" product.
Unfortunately my wax sealer has been packed so I could not seal this one... yet.


Tell me what you think...

9 comments:

  1. That is some awesome perspective you have going on there.

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  2. It looks good Rachel. I really like the shading on the cheeks. I also really like the eyes and hands for some reason. They make you focus on the her. Next time you're having problems maybe flip the painting upside down. You get a different perspective and it lets you see more angles. My art teacher taught me that and I can tell you it makes a world of difference on some paintings.

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  3. yeah i flipped it when I first started and again when I was painting it... it helps because you are no longer painting "an eye" if that make sense.

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  4. I love it.. She kind of looks sad, but I really like the painting. Good job Rach!

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  5. who is Siouxie Sioux.... haha but really rach it is good, i'm really a fan of how all the focus is on her face, you still see the body and such but it has a cool illusion to it, and hey, so what if she looks sad, emotion is a beautiful thing!

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  6. Nice work! You have this amazing nack for capturing peoples faces. It never ceases to amaze me.

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  7. I am a very proud owner. - Eric

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  8. so pretty1 it looks almost, like a modern day clara bow

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