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The Garden - 21" x 24", oil, ink & watercolor pencil on Maple
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The last piece in the series of tattooed ladies. Although I seem to have become strangely addicted to the tattoos so I don't think this series has ended. I suppose I would call this more of a phase than a series.
I consider this piece to be the best work that I've ever done. This feeling is a little daunting though. In a perfect world, I would think that each new piece should be better than the last, but instead I feel like I just get lucky. Since I did these three paintings relatively quickly, I have learned from each piece vital things that I have carried in to the next. My previous piece, Eternal Summer, I wasn't entirely satisfied with how the skin turned out, as I found it difficult to use the oils on top of the primer. For this piece, as an experiment I applied the GAC 100 everywhere but the skin portion:
I love the way the raw wood soaks up the oils; it makes them dry much quicker that way. I also paint in very thin layers and use linseed oil, which also aids in a faster drying time. The quicker the oil dries, the quicker I get to draw the tattoos!
As you may know, I am usually the model for my paintings. I find that this way I have the most control over the direction of the piece, and I also don't feel any weird pressure to make it look like anyone specific. I don't try and make my ladies look like me, though sometimes it's kind of inevitable. This time around, I wanted to make her face very different from the others, so I did. She's modeled after Lara Stone, whom I adore.
The butterfly tattoo in her early stages. That afternoon the sunlight joined me through the blinds and warmed my hands.
Anyway, I'm strange. I work really quickly and sometimes I think I need to slow down. If I spend more than two weeks on a piece I seem to lose inspiration and I wont work on it any longer. I'm a maniac and will paint nonstop if I have to, while the window of inspiration is still open. If I wait too long, my mind and heart wander to other ideas, other patterns, figures, shapes..
Oils and I have rekindled our romance and I think I'm going to continue this love affair. I have many projects that I do need to be working on, but I'm tempted to just glue myself to my easel and not resurface for a week. Alright, so not the best idea.
xo,
C
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