So I did two bubble girl portraits this week. I like both for different reasons. The top one is 10 x 15, done with water soluble wax pastels. I like the energy of it and the crayon like media gives the portrait a younger vibe - after all, she’s only 8 yrs old! The bottom one is watercolor and it kind of captures the attitude I was looking for. But trying to paint that little bubblegum bubble was hard. I needed more info on mouth anatomy imo. Or something. It just doesn’t read right imo. It almost looks like buck teeth...This is 9x12. And I’m not sold on the wax pastels. They fun to work with but I’m not sure I’m exploiting their potential yet...FYI, looking at the reference photo I realized she had purple hair extensions! Kind of fun with that silly little top!
I just noticed that your bubble girl has a polka-dotted top! Too perfect! I like what you've done with the wax pastels--it is difficult to get a fine line with them. I like the toothpick idea; I've been using an edge very lightly, but you can only keep an edge so long.
ReplyDeleteThe first bubble girl has a very impressionist/almost fauvist vibe and the shadow side is lovely, as is the very active angle. Maybe all you need to do with the bubble on the second one is add some bubble gum pink color to say bubble—other than that, you have the attitude down pat. I didn't even notice the extensions; the color reads beautifully as shadow and I just thought "that's Sara's fine hand with color!"
I'm really enjoying what you're doing with oil pastels—and learning some fresh ideas, too. Keep going!
These are great, Sara. And you do have more of the look of the bubble girl on both portraits. I like the energy of the water soluble oil pastel portrait and the angle you took with them. The watercolor version is so interestingly painted too. Maybe if you emphasized the bubble and/or it's cast shadow that would clear up any misreading of it.
ReplyDeleteNot a fan of the old pastels. I guess if you want a garish look they are ok, but who wants a garish look? I like the soft dappled girl. In this case less is more. I can't believe I said that, it goes against everything I believe in. Well that just shows how deep I am.
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