REPOSTED because it's applicable to today.
Creating is an interesting process. In each stage of a creation you get an entirely different feel. And sometimes our own moods can show up in the creation. I liked the tentative pencil drawing of the firs picture at left. But when I painted color in she looked hard and impatient in the second picture. I felt she needed a lower hairline to soften her look in the third pictures but the eyes weren't right then. So I painted out the eyes.
Creating is an interesting process. In each stage of a creation you get an entirely different feel. And sometimes our own moods can show up in the creation. I liked the tentative pencil drawing of the firs picture at left. But when I painted color in she looked hard and impatient in the second picture. I felt she needed a lower hairline to soften her look in the third pictures but the eyes weren't right then. So I painted out the eyes.
Something I have learned over time is to use one base coat color while I get the features right. It makes repainting areas much easier. I used to just repaint the whole face every time, but sometimes now I approach it more like a puzzle. See Robert Genn's post about the puzzle technique in making paintings. I wasted a lot of time feeling like I had to repaint the whole face every time I wanted to fix a passage. When I get one piece that feels okay I leave it. Using and keeping the base color really helps with that.
I'm not sure this head is exactly where I want it. Each time you change a creation, you gain and lose some aspects. Each time you change one thing, you have a whole new creation in a way, because the 'puzzle pieces" interact differently with just one change. And that is a good metaphor for life in general. Change one thing, and everything else feels different, too. That can have both negative and positive implications.
I am learning to accept the way I create. I am never satisfied with my first attempt. When I change one thing it makes me notice another, and I change that, and then I notice another. It's a chain reaction. ;-) And I sometimes still do a whole repaint. Because sometimes you really do need a clean slate.
Happy Creating!
I found a gallon of semi gloss (always hunting in the mis-tints, you never know) and it was just about the perfect doll face color. So I use it through the entire process, and no worries about using it up. It's very tough for toys, and I like that too. But once in a while, I want to vary it, so I've made up largish bottles of different shades, light to dark, yellow to pink to brown, and it does indeed make corrections a whole lot easier!
ReplyDeleteThat's happened to me a lot lately too...my post on switching doll wigs isn't exactly the same, but it sure changed both dolls, and the domino effect that followed required some big changes as a result. Good luck with your puzzles, both doll related and otherwise.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Jan. Yes, life is full of puzzles. :-) I'm trying to learn not to to take the whole thing apart just to find one piece. One missing puzzle piece right now is SPRING NEEDS TO COME.
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