‘Jo - the girl with the pearl and abalone necklace’, painting, acrylic on canvas, 30x30”. Unfinished. I took the photo in front of the mirror in the hallway. It’s kind of a reference to Vermeer’s painting, ‘The Girl with the Pearl Earrings’. I’ve only just started, but I like it so far.
The original photograph. I use a projector to draw the image onto the canvas, then start painting. This time I did the painting while the projector was shining the image onto the canvas. I wanted to get some of the light and dark areas established first.
Close-up of the left side.
Close-up of the right hand side. I got two pearl and abalone necklaces from Michael’s. One of them has darker colours than the other one, but I liked both of them, and there was a 2 for 1 sale, so I got them both. I have an ammonite necklace that I like too. It’s 55 million years old. That just hurts my brain.
Up until 3:30 a.m. working on the painting. So far, so good.
The painting on the easel with the reversed image of Vermeer’s painting. It’s more of an inspiration, than an image to copy.
The photograph I took, and the painting. I finished the first layer on the towels, now I can start the next layer.
The first layer of the painting done. I can start the next layer and add more subtle colours. This layer just has the main light and dark areas. I like the neck on the left hand side though. I like colours that shift from one hue to another.
I thought the shadow on the face looked like a butterfly, so I added some scrolls. I like it a lot more now. I added some subtle scrolls to the right hand side too. I’m still working on this painting. I have a lot more to do still. I really enjoy painting, it’s meditative, and I’m so focused I don’t feel anything like hunger, or fatigue or pain. Sometimes when I stop, I realize my right foot is almost asleep, because I forgot to move it.
A close-up of the butterfly pattern.
I added another layer to most of the faces. Each layer looks smoother and richer than the one before. It’s all about eliminating the brushstrokes and unevenness. I say every painting is my favourite, but this one is turning out as well as I hoped it would. Add it to the top ten list.
It’s almost finished. One or two more layers on the black shirt, and some more shadows on the left towel, and I think it’s done. One can never tell for sure.
Finished and varnished. I’m entering it into a show on Sunday. We’ll see if it gets accepted or not.
Not. Well, better luck next time.