Delphine

Delphine // La Femme Naufrage // Lady Shipwreck

30" x 40" (inches) oil & gold leaf on wood panel. 

So. While creating these wild-eyed nautical girls, I've been weaving this sort of vague backstory for them; how they're lives are interwoven, how they're connected, how they abhor and adore each-other. I originally was setting Delphine up to be a motherly figure to Ophelia and Aveline, but while the piece grew and developed, that path started to feel forced. I have several other images brewing in my mind, all tied in with their story line, and I started playing with the idea of all of them being sisters. I'm intrigued by the Greek myth of the constellation Pleiades, or the Seven Sisters, and decided to do a series loosely based around it.
So here we have Delphine, number three in my series The Seven Sisters.

 
The model for Delphine is my best friend Morgan of Whiteflowers. She wrote a beautiful song in collaboration, which I would love to share with you while you're visiting.

   Nautica [Delphine] by Whiteflowers

Here are some bits about my process for this piece.


As some of you know, a large portion of my creative process is the conceptualizing stage. This stage is really where the piece is really created, where I take a mental image and start drawing & combining elements together in Photoshop until I "find" it. Here is my "sketch" for Delphine. Naturally things change along the way, but I generally have the piece 90% planned out before I start painting. Of course I count on mistakes and bumps along the way to further shape the work.
I've become so comfortable working this way that I think it would be difficult to make up a painting on the spot. I know I would produce a completely different body of work if I was more spontaneous about it, which I'd like to explore more in the future. However, I do take my paintings very seriously, as they are a commitment, both time-wise & emotionally, so I suppose I save the spontaneity for my drawings and conceptualizing (for now).

 

So. I haven't played around with gold leaf much, so this was a fun experiment. I just sort of made up the process as I went along. I've recently fallen in love with Klimt and love the way he uses gold in his paintings, so I decided to try my hand at it.
After sketching out the figure, I stained the triangle portion black before applying the gold leaf, so bits of black would show through the cracks.

 I definitely busted out the hairdryer at one point. I'm not really a fan of the "waiting for the paint to dry" game. (I consider myself a patient girl, but sometimes you just want to keep going with a project, especially when feeling inspired and gung-ho. Paint drying times can seriously disrupt my flow!!) Okay. So. Hairdryer. Yes. Then comes the leafing. Which is oddly relaxing. I didn't want the gold to be perfect, which is really hard to achieve anyway.

But seriously guys, gold leaf is so pretty in person!! Photos just don't do it justice. There are these really delicate and lovely cracks in the leaf which look beautiful with the black behind it, which you can't really see in the main picture. Also, she looks super weird at this stage. Before I start painting, I like to erase all the extra pencil marks from sketching the figure, otherwise the graphite can muddy up the paint. So all that's left when I start painting are the outlines of the face, etc.


The rest is just clockwork and takes time - applying layers upon layers of paint, until I'm happy with it.

Early stages of the tattoos.



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Well that's enough for now. Got a Jackie Kennedy painting I've gotta finish for a fun upcoming Warhol-themed show! Pics soon!
Also thanks to those who came out for my show the other night, it was fun times!

And Thank you for all the birthday love. You're the best.
xxx

Aveline

Lady Aveline

as tumultuous as the seas to which she is bound

30" x 40" oil on wood panel
(click image to see it larger)

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It felt so different to paint a background this time. It definitely changes the piece. As did adding the stars. Somehow they brought her to life, she was no longer just a figure on a dark background, she became Aveline. I actually started to dream about her and we swam through icy waters together. Her hair doesn't often dry, but I caught it on a rare occurrence and tried to recapture it to the best of my memory.

Her octopi and jellyfish would hardly sit still as they caressed her neck and danced on her arms. Even the sails on the boat seemed to gently ripple in a phantom wind. She once referred to ships "stains on the sea". (I shudder to think of the fate that fall on the ships she meets)

One compass spun wildly, but she never looked down. I could sense her chestnut eye longing to look, as it often betrays her. Ophelia's skull is the only part of her that remained motionless. Somehow frozen over her heart.

"el mar conoce nuestro amor"

the sea knows our love

Tattoos made of squid ink and urchin needles (she couldn't escape the sea if she tried)

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And now for a few progress pictures:

At one point I was using tweezers to pick off cat hair. It was pretty ridiculous. I think I'm done using oil mediums, everything sticks to it. Everything.

drawing her tattoos

ahahaha this was in the early stages of Aveline. The night I drank too much wine and got silly. by myself. on a friday night. (i'm really cool) and texted way too many work in progress pictures to my best friend (sorry morgan)

I didn't use a primer this time as I usually just use it on the exposed portions. There wasn't any exposed wood on this piece, so I opted for no primer. For some reason this particular piece (cherry wood) was being really difficult. The oil wasn't soaking in properly, like the wood was way too smooth and just wouldn't grip the paint. I had to repaint her face like FIFTY TIMES. It was all very irritating. But it was all worth it in the end.

Next up, the sea witch La Femme Naufrage // Lady Shipwreck, mother of Aveline and Ophelia.

But first, got to finish three illustrations for Volcom, two for a canadian magazine, get ready for a show on the 15th and my solo in february! Goodness gracious I need a clone / assistant.

Hope your holidays were lovely!! Etsy shop will be reopened next year.

xx

C

tattoed silhouettes + shop additions

Here's my next series of little silhouettes. New and improved with hats, tattoos & attitude.

They're for sale in my shop. 

(Last nights silhouettes from Sketch Tuesdays sold out and I had to make more because I already missed them)

[UPDATE] As of now these new ones are sold out too, but I will be making more. I'm also happy to make variations of the ones you see here.

Boat Hat - 6" x 8" - ink on paper (link)

SOLD

Teapot Head - 6" x 8" - ink on paper

SOLD

Antlers - 6" x 8" - ink on paper (link)
SOLD

Dia de los Muertos - 6" x 8" - ink on paper

SOLD

Ophelia / Boat Shoulders

click to see it larger

40" x 40" oil & ink on birch panel

Ophelia. Name derived from Greek οφελος (ophelos) meaning "help". Her name also belongs to Hamlet's lover who eventually went insane and drowned herself. However, the similarities end there; this Ophelia will not meet the same fate as Hamlet's lover. The sea dare not drown her, she's one who would drown the sea. She posed for me once. Phantom trade winds made her hair dance gently around her eyes, caressing the sails on the boats that rest delicately on her shoulders. The air cooled as it passed over her skin, carrying aromas of salt sweetened by the sea flowers that grow in her wake. Perhaps she would suffocate without these ghostly sea winds, without the salty air to sustain her. 
Then there are her eyes. Those two left eyes. Oh, how they hardly blinked, how one remained locked upon my gaze. Her delicate tattoos serve as a futile warning, if you can read them, you are already too close. 
She grew impatient and I could feel the unease in her, how the earth felt unstable beneath her feet. Some would call her a prisoner to the sea, though a wiser man would know the sea as her prisoner.   

As usual, I first primed the exposed wood with GAC 100, did about three coats this time. I prefer to paint directly on to the wood, as it makes blending colors easier, but having the outside portions primed makes it forgiving should any unwanted paint get on the wood (living with a kitten is sometimes dangerous). Detail was done in various colors of ink.

 Tattoos drawn with black watercolor pencil. 


Translated:

"Ad infinitum"(Latin) 

"to infinity without end"

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"y de que nadie oyera las canciones de navegantes que a veces cantaba bajo las estrellas"

"and that no one should hear the songs that sailors sometimes sang beneath the stars"

From Gabriel García Márquez's short story Un Señor Muy Viejo Cona Alas Enormes (An Old Man With Enourmous Wings) 
(Thanks to my lovely Morgita for her vast knowledge of romantic poetry)


 

above is the framed drawing of the original "Boat Shoulders". The blueprints for this piece. 
 

 

messy tubes of oil paint, little bottles of oil medium and a box of hooks, nails and screws.


Hope you like her, she'll be on exhibit in January for my solo show at Vessel. 
Prints coming soon.


xoxo
C

Boat Shoulders painting - Work in Progress

Well hello Monday, meet Ophelia.

Here she is, halfway there. I'm hoping to finish her this week. And fast, because she's getting impatient. She feels naked without her boats and tattoos. Is she staring at you too? Cause she won't stop staring at me.


  

It all started the other night when Joe and I were playing silly games on our iphones. One minute we were playing Trivial Pursuit and then I sort of saw this painting in my mind, the painted version of my drawing Boat Shoulders. I saw it much differently in my head than how it's turning out, but that's how it is. You see an image, then it flits away as quickly as it arrived. I'm left with a memory that I begin to form and shape in to a painting. I never really considered my drawings to be conceptual versions of paintings, but perhaps they are beginning to be. Anyway, I have this strange love for the nautical world and I think it is rapidly becoming a common theme / direction my work is taking. 

Here she is at an earlier stage (Friday).

I seriously can't handle how beautiful this wood is. When the light hits it just right it seems to glow.  

❤,
c

NAUTICA

She's all done, for the moment. Minor tweaking is inevitable.

click to see it larger 

24" x 30" oil, watercolor pencil & ink on wood

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Here's a song for you to listen to while I go in to far too much detail about my painting process:

The Innocence Mission - Rain (Setting Out in the Leaf Boat)

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Finished her up yesterday. I'm a big fan of the size, it's a little larger than my normal oil paintings, but still manageable. I had a lot of fun playing with nautical elements, as that world fascinates me so much. The mermaid tattoo is inspired by art nouveau designs. The quote says "fair winds and following seas", which is a traditional mariner's phrase, it's like a farewell/blessing. It gives me chills a little bit.

Throughout the painting process I go through many emotional ups and downs. Mostly switching from "this isn't working, you've lost your touch, Charmaine" and "you know you'll get it eventually, just keep at it". Well, eventually it gets to a point that I'm comfortable with and I take it to the next step.

Here's a little bit about my painting process: the longest part for me is the conceptualizing. I spend a lot of time on the computer sketching in Photoshop, playing with colors and themes. Since I work from photo references I generally draw on top of the photos so I can change the hairstyles, clothing (or no clothing), etc. Once I feel good about the image I'll start sketching it on the wood. Even though my paintings are highly planned out, I leave a lot of room for changes and improvising.

After I'm happy with the pencil sketch, I start with the skin. I guess you could consider my technique more like "finger painting". I like to blend the colors together with my fingers, I find it's a much smoother result than using a brush. (My flesh color palette consists of Yellow Ochre, Alizarin Crimson, Burnt Umber, Titanium White and Ultramarine Blue.)

Once I am satisfied with the skin, I start the hair (my favorite part). I start by blocking in most of the color and shape with flat black oil paint. Once the black dries a bit, I bust out my India ink and draw in individual strands, just to give it more life.

The tattoos are predominately black watercolor pencil. I know, water and oil don't mix, but somehow the pencil works great on top of the oil paint (once it has dried a little bit). To get the color hues, I mix a lot of paint thinner with the oil so it's nice and transparent. I suppose some linseed oil would work too. If I feel like it needs more definition then I'll go in with my ink to get some darker lines. 

For the blue halo, I was in a bit of a predicament. I felt like it really needed it and I wasn't going to be happy if it wasn't there, but it's difficult to get a smooth and even color when painting with thinned-down paint directly on the wood, as it soaks in so quickly. Then I found an old bottle of Bleached Linseed Oil buried in the depths of my art drawers. It adds a nice gloss and transparency to the oil, which made it really easy to use directly on the wood. It's also thin enough where I could paint directly on top of the hair to get the blue behind it.

Anyway. Yeah. It works wonders. I wish I had used it for the skin! I'm going to experiment with it on my next painting that I'm starting tomorrow. Yes, more tattooed ladies coming up!

Well, thanks for looking, hope you like her.

xo

C

work in progress pictures

It feels good to use oils again. I feel like I say that everytime I paint. ha.

Anyway, lots to go, but here's a preview.

Flower Boat

Boat!

Kitten paws! He's taken a liking to sleeping on laptops, and sometimes my artwork. The other day we come home and lil Finnegan had typed a message to my friend and Neil Young was playing on iTunes. What a keeper.

Have a lovely week my beauties! 

Love,

Charmaine

Sailboat + upcoming show

watercolor with an ink pen
This was a little birthday present for Lizzy, she loves all things sailboats. And hopefully she doesn't get sick of me giving her art all the time.

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And here is the flyer for one of the upcoming group shows I'll be participating in. What an amazing line up! I'm seriously so honored and excited to be showing alongside all of these talented people.

Here's the link to the event.

And on another note, my kitten is currently snoozing on my lap. I'm a happy camper.
xo

Boat / we are getting a kitten!

watercolors, india ink & white acrylic ink

she's for sale

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Also, Joe and I are going to get a kitten! (Although our apartment is a bit small). We rode our bikes to the animal shelter here in San Francisco yesterday but apparently it's not "kitten season" for another few months, so there weren't any kittens to cuddle and fall in love with.  

I suppose I can wait a bit longer :)

Just a warning, when I do get my kitten, I will be posting a ridiculous amount of pictures. 

And expect tons of kitten drawings. 

Watch out. ♥

Boat Shoulders

She's TUFF. And you can buy her here.

India ink and Micon pens on brisol vellum paper.

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Thanks for the drawing suggestions yesterday, check back for some more birds, sea animals, zebras and ponies ;)

P.S. What's a pirates favorite fruit?
(Okay, so I have a really dumb answer for this one. Let's hear your pirate jokes!)