Saturday, January 31, 2009

Pastel WIP of Billy Bob Gone Bad

Well I may have to start completely over!
It all started this evening when I started to work on Billy Bob's chest and neck. I couldn't fine the pastel I had used on the shadow part of his face and eventually I had too much pastel on the paper to make much difference what I did. It really looked bad. So I thought I could salvage it by going over some of his chest and making it background and cropping the entire painting really close.
I thought it was going to work. I laid it in the scanner and those two marks showed up. I think they are water marks. I had washed my hands before placing the painting in the scanner and when it popped up on my screen I couldn't believe it! It may be ruined I'm not sure. I'm leaving it alone tonight and if it is water maybe it won't be there in the morning. If it is there, I may see if I can add something abstract to it to "cover" it up. There still is a bit to do on Billy Bob but I will wait until I see what this looks like in the morning.
The big disappointment for me was when I couldn't get the color on his chest right. Taking it out and cropping the painting so close has change the dramatic effect it had before. The power that Billy Bob was exhibiting is gone!
I'm very disappointed!

3 comments:

Pattie Wall said...

Oh Karen, I feel your pain. It happens. Looks like you were pouring your heart into this one, too. Hopefully it dried and can be covered without a water spot on the surface. Billy Bob is just beautiful!

Unknown said...

Karen I also know what you are going through. I tell myself it happens for a reason. And if I end up starting over the process goes so much better. I used to get upset but not anymore.

To me your Billy Bob looks fantastic. Once it sets and you look at it at later you will know what to do.

Karen Hargett said...

Thanks Pattie - this thankfully doesn't happen to me too often but sure can be frustrating when it does.

Toni - I think every artist has gone thru something similar at one time or another - makes us grown is my reason it happens.

I'm definitely going to do this one over because I love the comp but I'm not sure I'll do it next.

Thank you both for your encouraging words - it's nice to have your support.