Verdict= I think the mineral spirit/tracing/black pen drawing was helpful....but my choice of photo has very obvious black shapes..(and honestly, I can clearly see them without this tracing business). Just the same, it's apparent that what Boyle was doing was merging and linking large shapes to solidify the design prior to painting it.
After I did the Neil Boyle type tracing drawing I did my own drawing which I think was also helpful (and better because it incorporates some subtle things that the tracing does not include). Bottom line, It is it important to be able to use strategies to make better paintings..whatever that may be, and also have the ability to draw. Neil Boyle certainly is a shining example of someone who took advantage of all the tools available...including his own draftsmanship, to get the best result. Boyle stated during his talk that illustration and fine art were "one and the same". I agree with him. (Tomorrow I'll paint a study from my roughs).
From top to bottom
1. fashion photo from the 1950's
2. tracing paper
3. mineral spirits meets photo
4. tracing paper on top of mineral spirits & photo
5. pen drawing on tracing paper
6. freehand drawing from reference (I'll
pay more attention to the hand in tomorrow's painting)
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5 comments:
I like the sketchs but is the magazine photo ruined after the thinner came in contact? Should you plan ahead and use a copy next time?
Carrie, you are up late. Actually, the photo looks none the worse for wear. I wonder if I could get an illustrator to chime in about the value of using the mineral spirits for the tracing--did it make the tracing/drawing less detailed and is that what is advantageous? I'd ask Neil but he is in the big studio in the sky.
I rather love the drawing! When I was watching the Rauschenberg bio, I noted that they were doing some sort of photo transferring using something. I thought I remember seeing on someone's blog a long time ago about transferring photos and I thought only water was used. No matter...I'd never be able to waste a photo! LOL I rather love your freehand drawing, Celeste. Nice! And by the way; you were up late too!
Very interesting. I don't understand the mineral spirits and I'm surprised it doesn't ruin the photo. Did he use this technique all the time? Thanks for sharing this info. Now I would like to learn more about Neil Boyle!
I'd vote for the freehand drawing based on the reference. If you've gained the ability to sketch well thru many many hours of practice, why not use it. BTW, I think both images you created are quite strong.
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