I've been working fairly regularly on a series of 11x14 inch oil paintings, done over wallpaper and other vintage papers, and based on found photos from my local consignment shop. The picture I found of a man smooching his lady friend appealed to me very much. It clearly is a snapshot, not a studio photograph, and her grin is wonderful to me. I tried to suggest a horizon line, and initially intended to only include the figures, but as I went along I knew I wanted more to the image, so I added a tree. That also had the benefit of providing something dark to set off the arm of his white shirt and part of her dress.
The challenge for me, besides making decisions about colors for clothing, hair and so on, is how much background to include (there was a house and some shrubbery), and how much of the underlying papers to allow to show through. I want the papers, because they not only provide some visual interest, but also suggest bygone times.
For better or worse, this is what I finally settled upon. It's a bit silly and sentimental, but I think it's also appealing.
3 comments:
I love the version with the tree and think that seeing the wallpaper through the background paint makes it so interesting. Great job.
A bit silly and sentimental but VERY appealing. I think your series is wonderful!
I think whatever sentimentality might be inherent in the subject is more than counteracted by the thoughtful process and your success in creating such a pleasing and skillful painting! It's just, to me, very mysterious and intriguing!
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