My 2019 wedding season kicked off yesterday. I was the live event artist at the wedding of a lovely couple who got married at the Dennis Vineyards near Albemarle, North Caroline, which is a bit east of Charlotte. It was a lot of fun to get back into the swing of the wedding painting thing again.
When the bride and I were planning what to put on canvas, she was torn. She wanted it to show the first dance, but she also wanted to see the beautiful vineyards. Well, this is a painting, and I can put anything I want anywhere I want. So our idea was to show the first dance outside, on the lawn, with the vineyards in the background. Good plan.
All went normally for me for a while. I arrived early, talked with the event planner and venue manager, got set up, met the bride and groom, and started taking reference photos of everything. I continued taking photos all during the ceremony. Since the ceremony was outside, this gave me an indication of the direction and color of the light, how any breezes affected hair and dresses, and some idea of how the people looked in the landscape. After the ceremony, I tagged along with the photographer and videographer as they worked with the newly-married couple and got some really good references. Then we moved inside and I shot a ton more photos during the first dance. Then it was time to get to work on the painting.
My approach was to do a very rough block-in of the landscape, then put the various figures into it. Sounds like a good idea, right? Well, I took it too far. When I started putting figures into the landscape, the landscape had a lot to say about where the figures went, which wasn't necessarily where I wanted them to be. Not only that, but I had to wipe out the landscape underpainting (which was still very wet) to paint the figures in. And the brushstrokes for my figures picked up the remnants of the green paint and tinted everything. To top it all off, I thought my figure drawing was for crap. Sheesh.
Fortunately, the couple and guests were quite impressed by what I managed to get done in a fairly short amount of time. I had a great time talking with many people, from the 4-year-old flower girl to an 80-something gent.
Back in the studio today, I plopped the painting on my easel and studied it. I decided that the basic idea and composition were fine, but execution was sub-par. So a lot of thinner and some scrubbing with a stiff brush removed most of the still-wet paint. Next was to block in the dancing couple, and that went much better than the first effort. Then I did a good bit of thinking and planning on how to put in the rest of the key figures, and how to get the landscape to support the composition.
Result? A much improved structure in which to paint the people, while showing relationships, emotions, and activity. Lesson learned: don't paint the background first! Indicate the setting, but only roughly. Then block in the key people. THEN develop the painting all over.
So NO, you can't see it right now. I'll show a work-in-progress when it's a bit further along.
When the bride and I were planning what to put on canvas, she was torn. She wanted it to show the first dance, but she also wanted to see the beautiful vineyards. Well, this is a painting, and I can put anything I want anywhere I want. So our idea was to show the first dance outside, on the lawn, with the vineyards in the background. Good plan.
All went normally for me for a while. I arrived early, talked with the event planner and venue manager, got set up, met the bride and groom, and started taking reference photos of everything. I continued taking photos all during the ceremony. Since the ceremony was outside, this gave me an indication of the direction and color of the light, how any breezes affected hair and dresses, and some idea of how the people looked in the landscape. After the ceremony, I tagged along with the photographer and videographer as they worked with the newly-married couple and got some really good references. Then we moved inside and I shot a ton more photos during the first dance. Then it was time to get to work on the painting.
My approach was to do a very rough block-in of the landscape, then put the various figures into it. Sounds like a good idea, right? Well, I took it too far. When I started putting figures into the landscape, the landscape had a lot to say about where the figures went, which wasn't necessarily where I wanted them to be. Not only that, but I had to wipe out the landscape underpainting (which was still very wet) to paint the figures in. And the brushstrokes for my figures picked up the remnants of the green paint and tinted everything. To top it all off, I thought my figure drawing was for crap. Sheesh.
Fortunately, the couple and guests were quite impressed by what I managed to get done in a fairly short amount of time. I had a great time talking with many people, from the 4-year-old flower girl to an 80-something gent.
Back in the studio today, I plopped the painting on my easel and studied it. I decided that the basic idea and composition were fine, but execution was sub-par. So a lot of thinner and some scrubbing with a stiff brush removed most of the still-wet paint. Next was to block in the dancing couple, and that went much better than the first effort. Then I did a good bit of thinking and planning on how to put in the rest of the key figures, and how to get the landscape to support the composition.
Result? A much improved structure in which to paint the people, while showing relationships, emotions, and activity. Lesson learned: don't paint the background first! Indicate the setting, but only roughly. Then block in the key people. THEN develop the painting all over.
So NO, you can't see it right now. I'll show a work-in-progress when it's a bit further along.
No comments:
Post a Comment