after tracing from the small projector (it was quite pixellated so I could only trace roughly), I sprayed it with fixative so the pencil would stay on when I used very diluted washes on top.. I actually liked how the tracing looks as it is.. and I realised at this stage that, especially near the bottom/skull, the tracing was stretched, perhaps because of the way I angled the projector, but I'll have to work around that... there's something about a stretched human head that's quite scary...
below is a progression of painting.. I haven't painted in so, so many weeks, even before spring break and the pandemic, so I felt rough. also, the inaccurate tracing was making me feel uneasy and not as confident in where to place certain colours + I was not paying that much attention to the exact colour of each section because frankly I didn't know which part I was looking at in the original image. I had to keep reminding myself that it's ok to be looser and be abstract from the get-go.
this was probably a mistake, but I was thinking about how I've been drawing, washing the blank canvas with a thin veil of pale pink or other pastel colours - so I did that here too (though didn't cover the whole thing... probably should have as well) and I liked how it looked at that stage. I just forgot that pastel colours don't contrast as much with the colours that are coming later.. (like in the volcano painting I used red as the background and let some parts peek through dramatically) I also have the problem (??) of not being comfortable painting in thick layers of paint though I often want to (???) I think I am conflicted and it showed.
I did fall into the trap of accidentally going into abstract details without getting the hues right first (which I still didn't manage to get right in the end of this session) and briefly having fun with it - but then having to painfully cover them up because I needed to layer the right colours...
at one point I had to turn on the projector again to desperately trace where the fingers are but failed yet again because it was just too pixelated - guess I have to make it abstract/observe the image...
in the end, after 4 hours (painted from 1:30 - 5:30 am, the most active time I can work these days) I got frustrated but also accepted it - the colours were all muddy and ugly (though, kind of like how it looks in flash, perhaps the yellow lighting I have is throwing me off) but I think??? there might be a chance for it to be saved in the next session.. I hope...
I was looking at it from afar, from close up, and near the end I flipped it the other way around and I think I like it more this way? something more alive about it... anyway, I don't actually know what this study is for, maybe it might not fit into the visual proposal but it's definitely of value to me now.
