What do Skjonn and Mozart have in common? One of the several questions I ask during the interviewing process for a Memory Portrait of a pet is, “What music best describes your pet?” Mozart was the response Joe gave me when speaking of his beloved Skjonn. Consequently, I have been listening to Mozart and there are many lively & melodic passages that definitely make me think of Skjonn based on Joe’s description of her. It is as if there is another dimension in the studio and it is enhances my connection wtih Skjonn as I paint.
A chiseled rubber tool is being used to create clouds
As you can see via the photograph, (click to enlarge photo), I wear vinyl gloves when working with pastels. The pigment in pastels is the same as those used in oils, acrylics or watercolors. Pigments contain toxic materials, such as cadmium or cobalt, hence it is not good to allow it into our blood stream via our skin. (Or I could be even crazier artist!)
The tool I am using here is made of soft rubber and it is shaped like a chisel. Typically I use my baby finger to rub and smooth out areas, but this tool creates textures I cannot produce with a finger. These brush-like tools come in various sizes depending on the job at hand.
Skjonn at about two-thirds complete
Since the last posted stage of this artistic process, I have been working the sky, clouds, shoreline and water fairly extensively. (I have not touched the trees recently.) The goal is to make the background more impressionistic than Skjonn so that it does not distract from her portrait.
I have started working on her eyes, mouth, tongue, as well as blending several layers of her fur. Her right ear seems too long, but I am not sure, and I know her left ear is too short because I am not finished with the clouds. For some reason her nose has been giving me problems, so I am going to leave it alone for now. Sometimes that just happens in a painting and I have learned to back-off so that I do not ruin the Memory Portrait.
Is the shoreline rocky enough? Are the boulders reading as boulders along the North Shore?
…to be continued.
Thank you for the feedback. Joe, I will have a “chat” with Bob. LOL!! BTW, Skjonn has forced me to learn more about Mozart’s music, which is delightful. Hug her for me.