Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Week 4: Young Girl Reading by Jean-Honore Fragonard

week 4: end of day
{end of day status}

Yesterday I was back in gallery 55 at the NGA to work on my copy. The day was focused on correcting the structure of the girl's head and then deciding I needed a little more space from the constant re-working of this part of the painting, so I decided to move onto the dress. Instead of trying to copy every single stroke with deliberate control I am trying to capture the energy of the composition and paint the gist of the folds and puckers of the collar and dress.

You will notice that I also laid in the yellow ochre background again, this is because I got the burnt umber ground too dark and thought it would be best if I just went back to the original value of what the ground was. Next week I will go back and lay in the background in again and this time making sure my values are more in line with the original painting.

Thanks for visiting and being a part of this learning process,
Liz

6 comments:

Virginia Floyd said...

It's really looking good! Thanks so much for visiting and commenting on my blog. You made my day!

Carrie Waller Watercolors said...

This is just fascinating to me!! I hope I get the opportunity to do this some day!

Anonymous said...

How interesting to follow you along as you document this process. How do you enjoy doing this work? Very nice painting!

eLIZabeth Floyd said...

Hi Virginia :) Thanks for stopping by and sharing, each day gets closer and closer to finishing this one :)

eLIZabeth Floyd said...

Thanks Carrie :) the opportunity is wonderful and encourage anyone to try their hand at copying, you learn so much!

eLIZabeth Floyd said...

Hi Anna! It has been a wonderful experience, I enjoy the problem solving of trying to figure out how to the artist accomplished certain affects and how I can incorporate the same ideas and techniques.