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Category Archives: Empress
In the Shadow of the Empress
Now that the yellow dress is mostly complete I’ve begun adding the shadows cast by the Empress onto the bodies beside her, imagining where the light falls. The orange dress needed a lot of work, with much of it dropping … Continue reading
Posted in Empress, Making work, Tarot-related paintings
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Drop Shadows, Lighten Fabric
The base work for the pattern is complete, and a couple of my students said “I’d wear that dress” so I think I’ll let this dry, lighten it up a bit, then pop a bit of yellow into it to … Continue reading
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Interlaced Dress
This is working well. I’ve created a pattern over the surface of the dress to break it up more effectively than the simple layered structure it had before. It’s a lot of work, taking plenty of time, partly because the … Continue reading
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A New Cut
I’ve commented before on my dislike for the design of the yellow dress, so it will come as no surprise that I’ve started re-working the surface of the skirt, starting with a Raw Umber mixed with a little Burnt Sienna. … Continue reading
Solid rock
On Thursday I shot photos of one of my students in the role of the Magician – I posted the sketch for it a few days ago. She has a particularly dramatic appearance that’s going to be really wonderful to paint, … Continue reading
Liminal Columns
Dividing the columns into the fluted areas and the relief surface will help me to render the shadows in both, because I’ll be able to wipe off the glazes that otherwise would be hard to control as they spill off … Continue reading
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The Ghosts of Architecture
The work is hard to see clearly in the photograph because much of it is white lines over white clouds. New architecture is taking shape – a pair of Doric order pillars flanking the entrance to the courtyard. Pillars have … Continue reading
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Shadows on the Face
Adding shadows to the side of the face where the hair crosses her cheek has given it more dimension, pushing the eye behind the hair and making things feel more real. I used a little Van Dyke Brown to darken … Continue reading
A Little Help from a Friend
I’ve been reworking that face again, because I really disliked the right eye. Now I’ve done it again, taking a lead from the great Botticelli’s Madonna and Child and rendering a more introverted face that regards the Empress with a … Continue reading
Posted in Angel, Empress, Making work, Pre-raphaelite, Tarot-related paintings
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Nip and Tuck in Paint
Rising early in the morning again so that I could find a few quiet hours of painting, I trimmed the left side of the middle girl’s face so that she wasn’t quite so moon faced, then spent a while working … Continue reading
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