Abandon mixed media woman portrait

Abandon
Today I am recovering from two days of planting trees/shrubs up on the berm behind my house.  I must have climbed that berm about 40 times and since I am old, I am feeling it a bit.   So it was a perfect excuse to say I'll just play in the art room.

Leo-Vinh Beauvois, a terrific French artist, was this week's teacher and wow, did she ever have a complicated lesson just full of information.  It has taken me most of the week to watch the videos and think it through in my head how I would approach a picture using her technique.  She really uses bold, non-traditional colors.  So that was my charge for this picture to really let loose and use color.  I do like the photo reference she used as it has a really unusual head angle and will probably give it a try at a future time.  

First she collages the whole picture surface.  I have been reading more and more where people are using the collage papers/tissues because it really helps the paint and other media to stick plus it really does give a nice surface to paint on.  I kept the collage pretty smooth for this picture, but the next one I really experimented with purposefully have lots of textures.

You can see where the napkin really shows through the first layer of hair color.  I tried hard to keep as much of it as I could as it really added a lot of additional color to the overall picture.   As you can see I had some neck issues that needed correcting and ended up collaging more tissue layers to adjust to the shape I wanted it.  

The reference photo was really high key so I added quite a bit more color so I could get some shape and modeling into the facial features.  I used my dagger brush, which I absolutely adore, for the hair and to do the transparent fabric areas.  Got to say this was a pretty fun picture.   So much so that I have another drying for tomorrows playtime.

Thanks much for stopping by and taking a look.


                                      First base layer                                               Original Collage

Comments

Helen said…
love, Love, LOVE that paint & brush work and the color in that hair!
May 3, 2019 at 7:17 PM
carol edan said…
Looks like a very interesting technique, love the hair!
May 3, 2019 at 11:52 PM
Sheila said…
Love this! Love how you built up the hair, well the entire canvas really. If I tilt my head, and look from a different angle, her neck looks fine. Looks good to me :) (Even with out the head tilt, LOL ) Love the marks in her hair. Fun! Reminds me of an album cover from the eighties. LOL ;)
May 4, 2019 at 1:08 AM
Mellowood Gallery said…
Wow! Great job Nelvia although I imagine that the textures are more obvious in person, I can see touches of them in the photos. I hope your trees do well and that you didn't stress your body too much.
May 4, 2019 at 11:55 AM
Joan Tavolott said…
This came out great! I love seeing the original collage base. It amazes me that the print on the face nearly disappears. Hope you didn't overdo the climbing and that you aren't too sore.
May 4, 2019 at 10:32 PM
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