stefanie

Canson Montval CP 300 gsm 14" x 10". 3 hours.

i am continually experimenting with different working procedures. this is a "color study" painting of stefanie made primarily to visually match her skin colors.

the drawing was prepared in advance from photo documents so it was ready to paint into immediately. the drawing was loosely done. the flesh sequence is raw umber, venetian red and pyrrole red with gold ochre as a bulking pigment and dioxazine violet for deep shadows. the blouse is cobalt turquoise. everything was applied wet in wet, or applied and then blotted away.

i was surprised how generally yellow or red her skin tones were and how there is no blue color in her shadows. (the blue background by contrast confirms this.)

stefanie has been the most surprising model to me, it is as if i see her out of the corner of my eye. she has done really nice figure work for me and i may start a series of her yoga poses. her features are strong but with a gentleness that is very graceful.

the flesh here burns away in the charles reid style. i have been puzzling over an effective way to show the life in a human form rather than just the movement or shape. color seems to be a key part of the answer.