l'escadron d'ours de lafayette

FINI

 but it is not sooooo smokey looking . . . the final glaze was a glossy burnt umber . . . but the greens still

show through . . . subtle hints of the boots and bodies in the shadows . . . . 

been busy playing with the soon-to-be grandson baby shower gift !!! live too far away to do a mural  at this point. . .  missing the shower for a chalk fest !!!!  well . . .  here's the project . . . almost didn't post because the pictures . . . my photos make the painting look really bad (even my son saw the difference) . . . so yes if you know of a more inexpensive camera that will definitely give me a consistent focused and sharp image as well as showing good color . . . let me know !!!  i just want to share a true image without setting up a room with the umbrellas and multiple lights etc . . . so maybe i should have called this entry a camera blog for traditional artists !! hmmmmm . . .

the idea . . . . mr. andrew danger's room theme is teddy bears and airplanes !!! flying bears !!!  i love the lafayette escadrilles and their lion mascot !!!  and lions represent his great grandma (GG Ma) . . . . i love old photos . . . under exposed /over exposed /damaged  . . so that was my idea but first i knew i had to paint a scene to cover up and damage . . . .  so i found a long canvas in my supplies for my students and got down to it . . .

at this stage i was beginning to add more whites to areas i would want showing through the future layer of glazes

closer look at the squadron in progress

glazing  can be unpredictable especially with the fast drying acrylics on a large piece . . . but i have my new 3" liquitex freestyle paddle brush . . . using it in an unplanned way (bought it to paint big strokes on one of my paintings in my head !!) . . . it really did help  . . .  and using glazing medium which i find hard/time consuming to wash out of brushes i was worried but it has survived beautifully . . . .

the first layer of glaze was a mix of liquitex burnt umber and winsor&newton graphite grey . . . other layers mixed with black when i needed darkening . . .  sap green in areas of the landscape to enhance where needed . . . i did go back and touch up boots . . . whites . . . claws . . .  and stool legs in between glazes . .  . blues and yellows in the whites also needed occasional touch up . . . layered more blues into the sky.

part of the unpredictability of my glazing process is as i glaze i like to lift off too (i like to damage or distress my canvas/paint layers as i call it) . . . using water and dry brushes.  sometimes a rag . . .  paper towel . . . cotton swab . . . whatever . . . . and that means sometimes i can go to far.  in a texture piece it does not matter but this work has a smooth-glaze finish so it could.  had a couple 'oh sh@#s' and outside . . . but it ended out working great !!!

when i was all done i felt it needed a little more richness to the dark color so i added burnt umber.  this time i did not leave the whites white even though in the photos they look so . . . all the claws and whites have a nice antique look to them. . . . . . a coat of gloss medium was the finishing touch.

the photo below shows more of the true colors despite the flash spot !!!  so i decided to include it . . .  one thing i found is i do not like working small and smooth with a paint brush . . . i miss molding texture with my hands and adding and taking away drawn lines . .. . charcoal does not work as well with the glossier textured finishes . . .  neither does the ball point pen . . . but i liked the end product . . . it almost looked like antique wood  . . .

 

GIBBONs 6"x6"

this one is for jax !!!

since i did one for mr. danger decided last night at the last minute to do something for big brother.  staying with the primate theme for our little climbing monkey jax . . .  i painted two gibbons.  we went to a breakfast with the gibbons a year ago . . . and this was designed from the photos taken there . . . . the javan gibbons . . . and yes it has a glossy finish! that is what the white lines are . . .  reflected light.