frida canvas, "still she smiled" in the shop

hi again.  just a little post to say my frida canvas has been uploaded to my society6 shop


there are not many items we added her to, as the size was off for her to be shown well, but we tried our best.

the print

tote

and cards

until later,

jenny

rebounding from a mistake

today i thought i had ruined my frida painting (read her bio here).  it was a scary few moments.

i should have left the studio well before i made the mistake, as i was making mistakes left and right it seems, including spilling almost a half bottle of high flow acrylics.  it was one of golden brands small bottles, but that stuff is worth it's weight in gold, so i used a brush and mopped it up and got most of it back into the bottle.  not wasting that stuff, no way, no how!

but, what i want to show is the before the mistake photo and the after the mistake photo.

first, i have to tell you that i thought it was a goner, thats how much a difference my oops made!  i was trying to darken some areas of her face, and just made a yellow mess of it all.  thats when the bottle tipped over and i had to clean that up, and it had dried too much on her face by the time i was done.  instead of freaking out too much, though i was freaking, i decided to mix up some more color and have another go at the skin, putting on another layer of color to rectify the yellow.

heres the progress i had made before frida went to hell;

moved a cloud, played in her eyes and lips, 

and added gold to her collar

and this is after doing my best to rectify the disaster;

pretty similar, eh???

i need to fix her right cheek facing us, as it's a little too dark, but by the time i got this far fixed, i was pretty much done with the day.  i wanted out of the studio before anything else happened!

sweet hubby bought an acrylic artist magazine at the flea market on sunday and i was able to get some ideas about fixing the shading in her eyes.  i'm thrilled with how they have come out so far!

just a few little fixes now, and she will be complete.

until later,
jenny

progression with frida

i've been enjoying my time with this canvas.  frida (read her bio here) has a definite voice in it.  she has told me the title, and refused elements that would detract from the main focus, even though i really wanted to include them.  that was frustrating, but i'm dealing with it.


this is where i left you last time;

i've been touching up her skin here and there, darkening her ears and her hair.  i wanted her to have earrings, as she is known for her jewelry, but she wanted the focus to be on her soft little smile.  i tried three times to give her some bling!

the title for this canvas is "still, she smiled".   thru all the hardships she encountered in her life she still found it in her to create.  to find her passions and create her life, not be passive in it.

i had a vision for this painting right from the background.  the red drips symbolizing her struggles; the tears i know she cried, the blood i know she shed.

i've been changing her blouse as well.  it's gone thru two color changes since the above photo, and lots of fiddling with the shade and tone after deciding on a red color.

trying out a simple gold neckline

getting there!

i added three clouds to the background, and i really like how they add to the story.  i darkened the blouse and added seams.  she still needs work here and there, but i'm close to calling her done!  she should be up in the shop by early next week.

until later,
jenny

frida canvas

i've been working on a frida canvas this weekend, and am pretty thrilled with how she has progressed (read her bio here).  the difference in my style is coming from all the classes i have taken last year into this year.  i still have the same relaxed background style, but the growth i see is amazing.

here are progress photos of this work in progress;

pretty happy with her face and neck, and will be working on her blouse next.

to give you a glimpse at where i was at three years ago, here is a journal page i did at that time;

it was a beginning.  a perfectly acceptable beginning, and thats where i could have stayed if i had not  taken classes and practiced for three years!

here's to growth!

until later,

jenny