Portrait of Gwenn...

 "Red Gloves"

(8x10", Oils on Linen)  Price: $ 1000.00 

It's been ten years since the last Costume Salon & Sketch Lab we held at Illuxcon in Reading, PA. The photoshoot that the reference picture that served as the basis for this painting was a long time ago, but feels as fresh as yesterday. I'd come up from our art booth downstairs, camera in hand, ready to see what was going on. Young Gwenn was already on the stage with a fellow artist, both dressed in kinda sorta vintage costume from around the early 20th century. I asked who the brunette was, and did a double take to find out it was Gwenn in a black bobbed wig. She looked like a completely different person. When the tableau on stage concluded, I chose some new 1920s flapper vibed costume elements and an atypical black fringed dress. Seated in the sunshine beside the full Fall sun beaming through the huge windows, Gwenn looked like she stepped out of an entirely different time. I think there were at least five other photographers besides myself who snapped away, calling for different poses and expressions. It was a lot of fun. I finally got around to painting this idea eight years later. I initially wanted the portrait to be small and intimate, but got caught up in the injunction from 'someone', I don't remember who, to 'paint bigger'. So I compromised and drew the sketch down onto a 9x12" linen canvas and started laying paint the way I envisioned. For some reason, it just wasn't working for me. I put the canvas aside for many months before I found it again whilst rummaging around for something else. Struck with the idea again, I put it back on my easel to contemplate it again. I thought, "what if it were smaller, the composition more constrained?" I played around with bits of paper, working at framing it in smaller dimensions. Halfway through, I got up and went digging in my frame stash. Sitting in the pile was an ornate, vintage gold frame that suggested 'age' and 'appropriateness' to what I was wanting to achieve. It was sized for an 8x10" painting and it was perfect for the one I was wanting to complete. Strangely enough, it was that particular frame that inspired my initial painting before I took a different track. I took a full hour to size up the new composition position,  perfectly line up what area of the existing 9x12" canvas I wanted to cut off, and then actually do it. The newly cropped painting fit perfectly in the new/old frame and was instantly 'brought to life' again. I started painting again that afternoon. The finished result is what you see above. Exactly how I'd envisioned it in my mind when I originally set out to capture Gwenn's 'glam'. I don't care if it is considered "small". Some of the most famous and precious 'gems' of the art world are considered "small". That's my story, and I'm sticking to it. And I have recently stopped apologizing for painting small epics, etc. I'm just sorry that the photo of this painting doesn't capture the full glow and nuance of 'RED GLOVES'. Meanwhile, below are some progress pics, etc...

Original sketch...

 

 

Easel shots...

Reference photo and sketch. 

 

This was when the painting still measured 9x12".

The painting after it was cropped, and almost finished.

The finished painting in its natural habitat: the vintage gold frame.

Sorry it took so long to post this painting to my blog. It's one of my faves so far. Life is getting in the way of solid painting these days, but I'm trying to balance that better. I've got another big figurative painting to come and a bunch of new, but dramatic 'rocket doodles', too, and a surprise.
Cheers,

Marianne