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Saturday, May 11, 2013

The Shoes that Hit the Shower ... and came out better


A friend of mine at work told me about her wild shoes. Having had a bit of a shoe fetish in the past, I asked her if she could bring them to work, so I could photograph them as reference for a painting. They really were WILD - six inch spike heels, and a faux-fur finish. The heel was so high, Laara couldn't wear them.
I  masked the shoes [I found out what I was doing wrong with the masking fluid - using a hair dryer on it.] and did two graded washes - aureolin and alizarin crimson.  

Another two washes of yellow and red, and some of the shadowing.

I got too heavy-handed with the black, and lost most of the yellow on the upper right, and the shoe shadows. So I took the painting into the bathroom, turned the shower on cold, and stuck the painting under the water. It lifted enough of the color gently, so I could re-work the darks. 

I alternated between doing a large, all-over graded wash, and painting the shadow details. I did this twice, and I liked the effect of the shoe shadows merging into the deep shadows on the left, so the masking came off. This is where I am now. Next ... the shoes!

As always, your comments are most welcome!
 


10 comments:

  1. Hi Kathryn,
    I bet those shoes painting will be a huge success.. in each process of you glazing, each of the glazes could become a separate (almost complete) painting. Great job.
    On Masking Liquid: yeah, I've learned it hard way too.. and also, the key of the good masking is to put a thick enough layer (it will peel better).. Oh, and never use any old Masking as it will ruin your painting..
    Hugs!
    Irina

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  2. The mystery shoes--- we cannot wait to see what happens!
    love
    tweedles

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  3. I like them! Can't wait for the next stages!

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  4. Looking forward to see the rest of this WIP. Thanks for sharing Kathryn.

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  5. Shoes with skyscraper heels are great fun to paint, and I'm looking forward to seeing these, Kathryn

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  6. Looks great so far...I love the dark background..

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  7. Oooh I LOVE that background! So deep and dramatic. :) Masking fluid sucks. Glad you figured out what was wrong. I have used a hair dryer on a painting with masking fluid, but not on the masking fluid itself. It turned out okay, but maybe there is a big difference if you're directing your heat at the fluid itself.

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  8. Hello Kathryn:) About a little while and you have a shoe fetish yourself:) But that's ok because these shoes are very nice! The dark background is beautiful. I'm very curious about the color of the shoes:) Good luck!

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  9. The Shower!! What guts! I once put one of my watercolors in a rain shower because there was nothing to lose. And, sure enough, I threw it away. ;) Beautiful background. It always strikes me how methodical you are, and I am always so "seat of the pants."

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  10. My - you are SO brave with your paintings! To wash it under the shower is quite risky! But it seems to work for you :0)

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