Painting Progress

  Ok here we go, let me tell you about my process.

  The current series I am working on is  a Circus Sideshow character series.  All of the characters so far have been based on what I would consider, recognizable sideshow performers ie; Strongman, Carnie, Fire Eater, and my current piece is the Escape Artist.

  Ok so how it all starts......

  Well I must say that to me, the story behind a character is just as important.  I first have the idea for the character, choose an animal that I think personifies the idea and also lends itself to interesting anatomy.  At times the anatomy in my pieces are both human and animal, but at others it is entirely animal, insect, etc.  Each painting has a story behind it.  The Escape Artist's story will be posted after I finish the painting.

  Visual reference is an artists best friend.  Life reference is best, but lets face it, who has the time to ask a hyena to sit for a portrait.  Plus it's downright impossible!  So the next best thing is FLIKR.  I use flikr like crazy.  I DONOT COPY THINGS NOR DO I USE COPYRIGHTED IMAGES ILLEGALLY!  I use each of the photos to help me get to the place I am going.

Here are a few samples;

 

   

 The last picture I used quite a bit of, because one it's Houdini. Second It's the perfect pose I was looking for.  I will however tell you that I do not use a transfer of any photo.  I use them as reference for my painting, I then transfer or re-draw my sketch on the canvas.  Here are a couple of sketches.

   

And finally a blend of human and hyena anatomy......

FINAL CANVAS SKETCH

   That in a VERY small nut shell is the start of a painting.  I also have to gather A LOT of reference of other objects that appear in the backgrounds and the victorian designs, such as clothing, jewelry, or as you will see as the painting progresses... chains with a touch of steampunk.  Trust me, if I upload all the photos I use I'd have about 20 to 30 images just for this piece all the way down my blog!  I may not use them all, but when I encounter a problem with any portion of my painting I look through the images for the information to fix it.  That is why I try to find as many images as I can even if they do not seem to appear in the piece itself.  Questions? Feel free to askith me!

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