The spring wedding season is on us and I've been busy. On Saturday, April 21st, I went to Cary, NC (outside Raleigh) to do a live wedding painting for a wonderful young couple. A week later, I was in Pilot Mountain, NC (north of Winston-Salem) to do another live wedding painting, this time for the owner of the venue. The next weekend, I was at the Biltmore, here in Asheville, to do a live painting of the first dance at the reception for another young couple. This coming Saturday, I'll be doing a small watercolor at a reception near Cashiers, in southwest North Carolina.
That's a lot of painting!
So, are the first three done yet? No. The first one is very near completion. I'm making small changes to bring the overall finish up to where I'm comfortable with signing it. Two or three days of work and I think it'll be done. The second painting is about midway there, but it has a long way to go. The third is still at the starting line: it has a rough block-in done at the reception, but that's it.
Every painting is different. It has its own personality, it has its own things it wants to say, and it comes together in its own unique way. The first of these paintings has been very cooperative from the get-go. It has a very formal structure and things naturally fell into place. It seems like my job has been to make sure all the details are executed properly. The second painting is a bit more exuberant and lively. I feel like it needs some guidance and creative suggestions to bring out the best in it, but it really wants to come to life. The third? It's been fighting me since the first marks on paper, even before the paint. Everything has been a struggle: the composition, perspective, placement of the bride and groom, the lighting, the selection of photos to use for their poses, color, everything. However, by the end of the reception, the painting started to come together, and I have a plan for how I want it to develop. But since paintings are living things, and this one seems to have a rather independent mind, it may go in an entirely different way. We'll see.
And NO, you can't see any progress photos. Sometimes making a painting is like making sausage: the process is ugly but the end result is delicious.
So I'm off to the studio to sling some paint. I'll post photos of the completed paintings when they're done.
That's a lot of painting!
So, are the first three done yet? No. The first one is very near completion. I'm making small changes to bring the overall finish up to where I'm comfortable with signing it. Two or three days of work and I think it'll be done. The second painting is about midway there, but it has a long way to go. The third is still at the starting line: it has a rough block-in done at the reception, but that's it.
Every painting is different. It has its own personality, it has its own things it wants to say, and it comes together in its own unique way. The first of these paintings has been very cooperative from the get-go. It has a very formal structure and things naturally fell into place. It seems like my job has been to make sure all the details are executed properly. The second painting is a bit more exuberant and lively. I feel like it needs some guidance and creative suggestions to bring out the best in it, but it really wants to come to life. The third? It's been fighting me since the first marks on paper, even before the paint. Everything has been a struggle: the composition, perspective, placement of the bride and groom, the lighting, the selection of photos to use for their poses, color, everything. However, by the end of the reception, the painting started to come together, and I have a plan for how I want it to develop. But since paintings are living things, and this one seems to have a rather independent mind, it may go in an entirely different way. We'll see.
And NO, you can't see any progress photos. Sometimes making a painting is like making sausage: the process is ugly but the end result is delicious.
So I'm off to the studio to sling some paint. I'll post photos of the completed paintings when they're done.
No comments:
Post a Comment