Michael Pearce

 

Here’s the first sweep at the sky, an ultramarine blue over the white, easy on the medium. I’ll darken the sky a lot more because it’s way too bright right now and then I’ll work some details into the ocean. I’ll need to visit Malibu for some reference shots, I guess…

The curve of the clouds echoes that of the land and will isolate the falling figure in the blue sky. I added the first layer of red for the rose inside the unfolding cube and dry-brushed Titanium white onto the surfaces of the box. 

This change in the sky and ocean looks like it was a major piece of work, but it all was done very fast: filling large areas like this makes a big difference to the look of the whole piece, but is accomplished with ease. This is the first layer of work on the sea and sky, so they will change a great deal before it’s finished.

My photo reference for the falling man has turned out to be useless, because the lighting is completely incorrect, but now I know exactly how to remedy the problem, lesson learned. 

I’ve been working on the painting today after what seems like a very long break; it feels good to be back in the studio after all the work on the bottle piece.

 

The colour is a little off in this picture, since I don’t have the Bridge program on my computer at home to correct it. It’s far too blue.

I deepened the shadows with a little ultramarine blue and some black, then added some highlight white into the sheepskin of the flying helmet, which I’ll tone down a little when it dries. I extended the right hand side of the sheepskin into her face a little to balance it a bit better, then added a piece of sheepskin onto the left side for balance and detail. I painted out the sketched figures in the sky, beginning to clear up the clutter of construction ready for the small falling figure then working on the sky and the landscape.

 

Her face is really close to being finished now.

Here’s a detail shot of the chin and left side. Click on the image to see the texture that has built up by all the layers. 

 

 

Here are a few more details. Click to get the big picture. 

    

 

I’m thinking about bandaging her hand, so that her fingers aren’t just bent, but have been amputated. Next definite step: to commit to the falling figure. I have a reference photo for this. Drawing a figure on a small scale is much tougher than doing a large one.

I’m considering re-naming the finished piece “The Aviator’s Dream”. 

Today’s progress.

She’s wearing her aviator goggles now, and a triangular necklace. I added much more definition into the face and flying helmet and knifed a layer of flesh tones onto the man, who is taking his proper place in the background. The straps on the helmet are a little overly hard edged, so I’ll soften them when I have a chance, there’s also one strap and a button missing, (trinity) because I took this picture when I wasn’t finished. (It will be in the next post.)

I’m really not happy with her nose.

At this stage in a painting I’ll often re-define outlines and shadows to give the figure more solidity, but these harder edges will get back into the paint with a little work, softening them and making them less dominant. Right now the necklace is standing away from the surface of the skin, it hasn’t a shadow to set it down, but I can’t put it in until my surfaces are dry without risking damage to the triangular pendant.

 

 

I’m still avoiding painting the falling figure, aren’t I.