Category Archives: Paintings

Handling the Globus Cruciger

Posted on September 9, 2011 by pearce

                      I’ve continued working with the Raw Umber to re-render the right arm holding the spherical globus cruciger, his torso and the left arm holding the scepter. Working on the … Continue reading →

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A Head and Shoulders Above

Posted on September 8, 2011 by pearce

After creating a decent layer of grey passages from mixed and blended Raw Umber and White I like to rework the painting, finding the deep darks with Raw Umber and using my fingers to smooth areas of value over the greys. This … Continue reading →

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High Chair

Posted on September 5, 2011 by pearce

I covered a lot of canvas today by working fast and deliberately choosing to make broad compositional strokes rather than finessed detailed gestures. The chair is looking appropriately wobbly and now the composition is beginning to make sense. I like … Continue reading →

Posted in Bouguereau, Emperor, Green men, Making work, Other people's work, Paintings, Tarot-related paintings | Leave a comment

Bouguereau and Photoshop

Posted on September 5, 2011 by pearce

I want to look at a caveat from the great master painter William Bouguereau, who I regard with awe: “I detest realism” he told us, “for it is nothing but photography, neither more nor less! Well, if you are a … Continue reading →

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Using Millais as a Reference

Posted on September 5, 2011 by pearce

There’s nothing like building upon the foundations built by giants to make certain that your own work is of better quality. At the Getty we visited some of my favorite paintings (Alma-Tadema’s “Spring”, a lovely Sargent portrait, a pair of … Continue reading →

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Faster!

Posted on September 2, 2011 by pearce

I’m really feeling the pressure of time upon me these days, so I want to work with speed and accuracy without sacrificing quality. Consequently the work is getting looser and more brush-strokes are visible, at least at this stage, although … Continue reading →

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Putting More Girls into the Empress Painting

Posted on August 30, 2011 by pearce

I’ve been getting pre-occupied with the composition of the Empress, which bothers me in reductions of the painting. I’m planning to add several more figures around the existing girls, and to paint more detail in the figures, who are too … Continue reading →

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Emperor Ahead

Posted on August 28, 2011 by pearce

Because the canvas is so tall and the Emperor’s head is so close to the top of the composition (making him feel even higher up than he really is) I’ve pulled out the platform that I got from Steve Aufhauser … Continue reading →

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The Emperor Begins

Posted on August 25, 2011 by pearce

Following shooting photos of Amy for the figure sitting on the ground I sketched the drawing onto the canvas using a simple one foot grid as a guide. I like this composition very much for a couple of curious reasons: … Continue reading →

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Emperor

Posted on August 22, 2011 by pearce

At last I can get started on the Emperor – the canvas has been ready to go for a few days, but there has been too much excitement around the New Romantic Figure exhibit. This morning a photographer from the … Continue reading →

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