This project has almost entirely consumed my thoughts for the past three days. It has bothered me so much that I have created something that I dislike. Acrylic painting is a precarious niche of fast - paced work and decisive color schemes -- areas in which I am decidedly not well - versed.
I began painting Friday night. I began by mixing a deep reddish - purple that matched the base layer. I vacillated for a very long time about whether or not I should just completely re - do the whole thing. It was agonizing. Finally, I just put the brush down and dappled away. I realized that I liked this new color for the chest, and so I cautiously began to blend it into the highlights of the breasts. I moved slowly and carefully because I had already learned (by an embarrassing amount of trial - and - error) that acrylic paints cannot simply "look similar"; any nuance in value or tone can be easily perceived. Unforgiving. Then, I carefully mixed my paints to achieve the same color as the highlights so that I could even out the patchiness. It was really hard to blend the highlight into the darker color of the flatter chest area because of the quick change in value. Riskily, I simply painted the lightest highlights of the breasts, collarbone, and neck tendons -- without bothering to perseverate over the seamlessness of my blending. I had initially planned on taking a break from painting on Saturday, but I was anxious by mid - morning that I would run out of time. I focused on those awkward middle values between the highlights and shadows, which I find especially hard because they essentially 'make or break' the realism of a piece (even though this painting is abstracted, I want at least some degree of form and proportion communicated to the audience). I also struggled with finding a balance between my dappling and blending. Finally, though, I was somewhat satisfied with the shading. The piece still felt like it was missing some aspect of radiance or brilliance, though. I remembered the opalescent paint I had bought from the art store. I wondered if I should paint a layer over the whole painting to give it a greater sense of cohesion, but I had a feeling that this idea wouldn't turn out quite like I wanted it to. I tested my theory on the left corner, where the arm is. As I I had feared, it did not turn out well (Later, I circled back around to that portion of the painting and went over it with regular paint to cover up the opalescence). Instead, I painted a shimmery layer on all of the highlights. Instantly, I disliked the piece slightly less. Sunday was the day for final touches. I ended getting some smears on the painting, so I had to painstakingly blot and dab the dark spots (after briefly freaking out). I also added the necklace in silver sharpie, accentuating the highlights with a thick layer of opalescence and outlining the shadows with black fine - point sharpie. I still hadn't created a cohesive phrase for the words I was going to write in place of the necklace chain; I wanted for it to reflect the content, but I wasn't quite sure how I could best conceptualize my content? I wanted to express the notion that beauty is arbitrary, but this fact does not diminish the significance of aestheticism or the actual subject. This is the inspiration for the writing of the necklace chain. Also, I purposefully wrote one line backwards and started both lines from the same letter. It felt right to me, and that's the best explanation I've got. I still need to cut the shape of the bra out of another material (perhaps foam board), attach the fabric to that material, and then mount the whole thing onto the painting. Thus, I am still not quite sure how the whole artwork will come together. However, I appreciate this project as a learning opportunity.
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