Friday, January 7, 2011

Inspiration Thursday!

Welcome back to my new and consistently updated artblog!

Today is Thursday, which means I'll be pulling something out of my magic art bag that relates to something that's been influencing me.

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You'd be hard pressed to find me a better singer than Aretha Franklin. It can be almost too much sometimes, the range, depth and power of her voice. It's nearly impossible to shuffle her into an iTunes playlist, because whatever pops up after her is only going to sound light and amateurish in comparison.

Ms. Franklin isn't particularly known for her photos, but I found one recently that really struck me. It's cast mainly in shadows and half her face is receding back into the darkness. It's a moody shot. I decided to have a little fun with it and try to approach it in a modified realistic fashion. I first laid down a very loose sketch of the photo and then, rather than trying to parse out the contours and shapes from the darkness, I decided to let the darkness dictate my approach.

I started just crosshatching very minutely, trying to keep a rhythm with my pencil and not erase unless necessary. I then built up the layers, using only this crosshatching and not using lines per se.

It was a fun little exercise. I might have to use it again!

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