"Heaven on Earth Rose," in progress, shown at actual size
Another progress update after two more sessions on the rose. The hardest areas to blend in egg tempera are open areas, or areas with a shadow that has to fade into a light area. In this painting that is happening in several of the outer petals, and I am still working on evening out that blend.
Flowers are a great challenge because they are so subtle in the variations of tones and colors petal to petal. Egg tempera is a perfect medium for subtle variations because of what can be accomplished with transparent glazing and translucent scumbling.
11 comments:
Just stunning, Mona! Is this a commission, or for an exhibition?
Thanks Deb. Neither---currently it's planned for sale online, but more on that when it's done.
All your work is so painstaking Mona - it is truly inspirational!!!
I so agree that the translucent egg tempera is perfect for materials that have light flowing through them, like flowers. I'm wondering what kind of brushes and what size you use, and how you paint the form so as to not show brushstrokes. Because it looks like the transitions are completely smooth. Would you ever consider posting a much bigger enlargement of the painting, so we can see the technique more clearly?
Thanks for the update Mona and the comments about the blending. I think I see the areas you are referring to. I thank you again for doing the step by step on these little jewels and pointing out difficult areas. I checked back to the beginning of this work (Step 1) and it doesn't look as though you did an under painting. So much to learn!
Thanks Karen, Altoon, and Barbara.
Altoon raised some interesting questions, and Barbara, want to respond to your comment about underpainting too, but since I've got jury duty starting tomorrow, allow me to get back to you on your questions with a longer response as soon as I can.
I'm grateful that jury duty lasted only a day, since I have a few commissions to cover! Getting back to your questions:
Altoon, I'll be showing an enlargement of the final version of the rose, but since this is a multipurpose blog that I also sell from directly, and readers include clients and patrons, I mainly show magnifications to approximate what juries and judges see when they view my miniature art in competitions. You can also see enlargements of my egg temperas on my two other blogs:
http://eyeportraitsinminiature.blogspot.com and
http://granderjoyofspiritinportraiture.blogspot.com the latter featuring my large-scale portraits in egg tempera and pastel as works in progress.
Here's a post I did on my minibrushes: http://miniaturepaintingdaily.blogspot.com/2009/02/aretha-step-3-plus-word-about-brushes.html
Barbara, I do underpaintings in general, but sometimes on Kelmscott vellum I do a partial underpainting (see the blue on the petals in the first progress post) because it's a less absorbent surface.
Absolutely beautiful!!
very very nice, Mona. Would love to see it in person. I know being egg tempera the colors must be singing.
Mona, all your work is beautiful, but your florals are just stunning. Thanks for these WIP posts. Really love to see how others work.
Mona, I love all your work, but your florals are just stunning.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year too! :-)
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