Four weeks. Four wedding paintings. That's the spring wedding rush in this studio. At the moment, three of the paintings are underway and the fourth will start this weekend.
As mentioned in my last post, the first of these paintings didn't start very well. The concept was good, but my execution wasn't. While waiting for the first dance, I had started putting in the outdoor environment, with the idea of putting the bride, groom, and others in later. That method didn't really fit with the way my brain works and I ran into all sorts of issues once the people started going in. So the next day in the studio, I wiped it out and started over. This let me get the important parts of the painting - namely, the couple and family members - positioned where they made the most compositional sense. That painting is now nearly finished and here's how it looks right now (click on the images to enlarge):
The second painting got off to a great start. It was a surprise for the bride and groom - they wanted an artist but the bride's mom said "nope, too expensive, not in the budget", while at the same time already having me lined up to do just that. I love surprises like that! We decided that the subject of the painting would be the return walk down the aisle at the end of the ceremony. And the bride and groom gave us the perfect setup. So when they spotted me painting away at the reception, they were over the moon. This was one of those paintings where everything was working from the get-go, which made it loads of fun. No wiping it out in the studio the next day! Instead, I've made some progress on it and here's how it stands right now:
As mentioned in my last post, the first of these paintings didn't start very well. The concept was good, but my execution wasn't. While waiting for the first dance, I had started putting in the outdoor environment, with the idea of putting the bride, groom, and others in later. That method didn't really fit with the way my brain works and I ran into all sorts of issues once the people started going in. So the next day in the studio, I wiped it out and started over. This let me get the important parts of the painting - namely, the couple and family members - positioned where they made the most compositional sense. That painting is now nearly finished and here's how it looks right now (click on the images to enlarge):
The second painting got off to a great start. It was a surprise for the bride and groom - they wanted an artist but the bride's mom said "nope, too expensive, not in the budget", while at the same time already having me lined up to do just that. I love surprises like that! We decided that the subject of the painting would be the return walk down the aisle at the end of the ceremony. And the bride and groom gave us the perfect setup. So when they spotted me painting away at the reception, they were over the moon. This was one of those paintings where everything was working from the get-go, which made it loads of fun. No wiping it out in the studio the next day! Instead, I've made some progress on it and here's how it stands right now:
Last weekend's painting required a road trip to Atlanta. I am NOT a fan of driving in Atlanta. So I hit the road way early and took the scenic route down through Sylva and Franklin, rather than driving interstates all the way. Got to Atlanta and ran into seven lanes of traffic slowed to a 5 mph crawl because an 18-wheeler was parked on the side of the road. Yep, it wasn't blocking anything. Sheesh. But I'm glad I gave myself plenty of time. And this painting was a Special Case. The couple had booked another artist, but she backed out with just a few weeks to go. So in order to uphold the honor of wedding painters everywhere, I took on the job. The couple wanted the subject to be the first dance. To liven up the composition and color, we decided to place them outside in the courtyard, which was the bride's favorite part of the facility anyway. So here's how the third painting stands right now:
So one painting is almost done, two are in about the same level of completion, and a fourth starts Saturday. I'm spending a lot of time in the studio and really having a good time.
No comments:
Post a Comment