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Practice and Materials Exploration

This piece is my beginning exploration into materials and substrates to better accommodate my latest painting/art-making process, and it is based on 'Portrait of a Woman' by Jacob Voet from the 1600s-1700s.

I've said before that to work much bigger, I need to change from markers to a different medium.  That means my substrates need to change as well.  My current preferences are for matte finish colors and for smoother surfaces to use them on.  Anything can change, but this is my starting point.

Yesterday's piece was sketched with Sharpie pen then dots and connecting lines were added after.  This first exploration used Bristol Drawing paper (uncoated; 146 lb.).  I started with the eye areas -- painting them in with Folk Art matte acrylics.  The paint did not go on easily nor smoothly.  So, I switched to Sharpie markers to complete the piece figuring the paints weren't going to work well.  Using the markers, there was a great deal of bleed-through on the paper's back.  In contrast with my Accent Opaque Digital 100lb. cover smooth cardstock (typically used for digital and offset printing), it was so much worse.  There had been little discernible bleed-through on the Accent paper.

In this piece I like the ribbon coloring, the odd hair patterning (to replicate lots of curls in the painting), and the dark background around the head.  It works well together.  My original eyes had a pink surface which would have totally changed the focus in this piece.  With the blue surface, it connects with the blue of the dress and unifies the piece versus pink that would have made it more top-heavy (since there is more pink/purple colors from the neck up).  It's interesting how something seems so small but can have a significant impact on the whole.  


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