step 3

keeping with the idea of sharing this process with you guys, I decided to video-capture a portion of the painting process...

unfortunately youtube did not allow for a continuous clip that was longer than 10 minutes (the whole thing is eleven).... so it is divided into two sections.....



the actual first step of the process is the photographic image that I use as base for the drawing.... I am not sure what kind of audience this blog will have, so I am not going to be posting that here.... the drawing is obviously the second step, and the painting of the gold the third step... it is also the lengthiest of all....

I usually listen to music while working in my studio (unless I am editing audio), and I usually listen to one track only, on repeat.... I have been doing that since my undergrad days in Savannah... one particular song I remember using was erotica by Madonna for my final in life drawing class..... it was sort of an arrangement of three bodies in a room with a window, standing by a bed.... I meant to use them compositional devices, but now I can see that there were some erotic possibilities there too, though I was completely oblivious to it....



I believe said drawing is either gone for ever or in my sister's storage space in Texas... it was a bad drawing in regards to proportions, but I would kill to have it around right now to analyze the line quality..

anyway, I usually pick a random song of the moment and go with it (Bjork and Gus Gus come to mind, as well as Portishead)... so usually the song has nothing to do with the work itself in a conscious level..... though I have to say that this series has a celebratory feel to them, so who knows? I think it is more of an OCD thing than anything else....

here is how the first layer looks like, completed:



and here is a detail:



the final step will be the painting of the text with black paint... I will post an image of that as soon as I get to it, probably next week or the one after...