Friday, January 9, 2009

Transformation!


This was alot of fun. It is still in the beginning stages. I used a canvas that I had started a portrait on. She wasn't fitting well...I felt I was shorting her at the top, and wanted to try her again on a different size canvas. So poor Etta's unfinished portrait has been sitting in my studio for a while. Sometimes if I reuse a canvas, I will gesso it. However sometimes I think it is more of a challenge to really see and create what you see in your mind regardless of what the canvas looks like before you begin. I do alot of painting at night, and it is difficult for me to take pictures of the canvases when they are wet. Any advice on this is greatly appreciated, as far as the best lighting to use to minimize the sheen.













6 comments:

  1. The lighting is beautiful. You are awesome!!!
    signed Bill- Pinellas Park

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  2. love the wet into wet that you do

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  3. I always appreciate artists who take the time to post progression photos. I learn so much. Thank you!!

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  4. Hi Beth!- I love seeing the "transformation"- it really adds to the story. You picked a doozy as your first challenge! Nice job capturing the glow of the dome and the ambient light.

    Regarding photographing your work: It is better to shoot it outside on a sunny day to capture the full spectrum of light/truest representation of color. I always do it with the sun directly in front of me so that the angle of the lighting is natural (coming from the top/right). I usually just drag a chair outside and lay the painting flat on the seat. You can rotate the angle of your painting to reduce/eliminate glare.

    I have tried to "outsmart" natural lighting with Photoshop- but it is a lot more work and the results are never as good. Karin has a link on the side of her blog "How to submit your artwork" if you need more photo tips. Hope this helps! Look forward to seeing more of your work! -Tom

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  5. Beth - I'm so glad I found your blog! Very nice rendition of Karin's photo but sorry to see the nice painting of your dog disappear. Wonderful dog portraits - love your colors and brush strokes! Great story about Ziggy Marley and discrimination, I'm with you. I plan to visit your blog often.

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  6. Wow! This is quite a transformation... very interesting to see, and the final has a nice mood to it.
    In response to the many people who've commented on the DSFDF blog, I've started a series of Photoshop tips... I'll be covering editing dark photos sometime soon.

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