Femme Fatale acrylic woman portrait

Femme Fatale

Well, things don't always go exactly as planned.  This was supposed to be a mixed media piece, but ....  it almost turned into a fatal piece gone so wrong - could I save her?   You be the judge.

When I first saw this reference it made me think because the girl was wearing the veil - she was the perfect Russian, of course, spy from the 1940-1950s.  She was definitely going to have a glamorous mysterious look.

So I painted her carefully and then boldly decided to put on some of the handmade collage paper I made especially to emulate the veil.  Well, once I started applying it definitely was too dark and you really couldn't see all the facial work beneath it.   Usually the tissue melts into transparency, different than what I usually use and boy it didn't melt away - but really was opaque.  

So now I had to figure out how in the heck could I pull it off and could I repair the damage done to the paint surface, paint over the gloss medium I had used, and then how would I get a veil in.    Was proud I didn't cry, throw things, swear (well, maybe under my breath) and immediate started spraying everything with water and started pulled it off.  Ended up with extra texture I guess. 

The veil really was a internal part of this piece and I needed to figure out how I was going to get a veil.  I didn't want to chance again trying to collage.  So again, being forfeited with a glass of wine, boldly I started trying graphite pencil, some white and black color pencil to make the small square texture of the netting and the darker fold lines where the veil was several layers thick.   Then I decided to add just a bit of glitter.

Not sure of the end result, but, felt in another time and place I would have fallen completely to pieces if I ruined the painting.   Now, just tried to put her together again and moving on.

Thanks much for stopping by and taking a look.



Comments

Joan Tavolott said…
I loved reading how you did the veil. You definitely worked hard on this and saved it!
August 22, 2019 at 7:11 PM
Helen said…
I was so drawn to that fabulous curly hair and the story behind what she might be looking at that I wasn't the least bit concerned about whether there was a veil or not.
August 22, 2019 at 10:55 PM
Sheila said…
I had to zoom in right off. Before I read your post even. I had to look at the textures. I think it's great. Two thumbs up :) Your description is wonderful, and made me laugh. High five for not crying, and not giving up. But I wouldn't expect you to ever give up. ;) I saw veil immediately. I very fine weave material. And that glossy lipstick, perfection!
August 23, 2019 at 1:09 AM
laurelle said…
Well, I empathize with you completely in your efforts to do this and how you're feeling about it right now. I am assuming this is acrylic. Do you realize what wonderful textures and underpainting this will make for another work? That is what I would do. I would move on. How many hundreds, thousands, of works we make will not live up to what we tried to do. But they are necessary for the ones that are successful in our minds. I don't believe in attempting to save everything we do. Use its history for making something else. And be proud of yourself for working so hard, learning so much, and not giving up.
August 23, 2019 at 4:02 AM
Mellowood Gallery said…
What a challenge! I think you managed a great save Nelvia although you didn't show us the piece with the collage on it. I can't say that I 'saw' the veil before you told us about it but I did notice the skin texture, the curly hair and those super lips. Great job!
August 23, 2019 at 11:51 AM
hmuxo said…
I think you did a beautiful job on her Nelvia!! Cry? throw things around? lol I can't imagine.! You managed to fix it... like I knew you would...
August 23, 2019 at 6:00 PM
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