Beautiful Dreamer: some progress and changes

I've changed a little bit from my original plan. I took it down to one plain strap. I may lighten it but I think it will work when the whole dress is dark. Also I'm leaving out the pattern, I think it would just make everything too busy. I will try to add in some of the texture of the dress, but there are a lot of interesting folds that I think would be lost in the pattern. I think the second face is looking great. I think that line on the mouth might be a bit to dark but other than that I'm really happy with all the delicate detail. This photo doesn't show much of that, but my lighting is horrible and uneven. Also my hands were shaking a bit when I took the photo. Though the way this photo is cropped is close to the final composition. I struggled a bit with the second face, but aside from darkening some shading I think it doesn't need much work. I think I finally got the proportions and placement about right. I just need to fill in both bodies and the rest of the background.

Beautiful Dreamer: updates

It's not a lot of progress, again, but I like it. I'm feeling pretty good about the hair, though I'm a little uneasy about the shoulder. I think it's mostly the angle of the strap. In the end it probably won't matter. The shoulder could probably come in a little more, on the angle. The strap may look even more odd but the shoulder would look right. I'm not sure. I might come back to that later. There's a spot on the shadow of the chest I need to lighten, and I need to even out the shadow more, other than that I'm happy with the chest. I can work more into the arms tomorrow and the background on the left, I can also sketch in more of the second figure. The background on the right will probably be the last thing I do. I at least want to finish both figures before I start working on that intricate part of the sculpture.

Beautiful Dreamer: updates

First of all the border is not that crooked, I just took the photo at a weird angle and I didn't have the patience to fix it at the moment. I've spent a good bit of time agonizing over the two borders I have right now. Also I'm really hating that left side of the hair right now. I think it's just too high and maybe more of that sculpture should show. I moved the shoulder so I have to fix the hair around it. I like how the background is looking. I'm just full of frustration for the hair right now and that's why I'm dragging my feet. I'll spend some time later trying to fix that hair, either tonight or tomorrow.

Women's Art: Women's Vision

Women's Art: Women's Vision
Highlighting Maryland Women Artists
During Women's History Month

DATE:
Sunday, March 8 - Sunday, April 5, 2009

RECEPTION:
Tuesday, March 10 from 6 - 8 pm

LOCATION:
Baltimore World Trade Center
401 East Pratt Street
Baltimore, Maryland 21202

Both the Exhibition and Reception are Free and Open to the Public


Including more than 20 Women Artists from Across Maryland:

Barbara Curran
Mary Carol Curran
Rosetta DeBerardinis
Janet Freedman
Stephanie Goldberg
Loretto Gubernatis
Chrissy Gubernatis
Stephanie Hopkins
Jessica McKelvin
Sherah Rosen
Kenlynn Schroeder
Sydnei Smith Jordan
Eliner Tryon Elgin
Wilhelmina Burress
Karen Burress
Denee Barr
Joan Lok
Eileen Williams
Diane Wieder
Meredith Snow
Sandra Magsamen
Ev Cabrera
Barbara Johnson

All artwork in the exhibition is for sale and proceeds benefit the Maryland Women's Heritage Center.

Also Select Artwork by Young Women from the Girl Scouts of Central Maryland

Beautiful Dreamer: updates

I've gotten some work done tonight, I made some decent progress in the background. I think the width of the shoulders needs some double checking. Though I'm pretty sure they haven't moved since my last measurement. They still look too wide though, I'm not sure. I'm afraid now I'll have to bring it in a little because that would mean bringing the hair in as well. I really should recheck that. Other than that I'm happy with the work in the hair and background I have done. I'd be working more but I really need to break for food. I'll at least check those proportions before I go to bed. I'll update again soon, I'm starting to worry about my deadline so I shouldn't be going days at a time without working on this anymore.

New Photography: "Dress Up"

I took a lot of photos trying to achieve this effect. I wanted a dream like quality to the whole thing. I tried to get the a similar shot of her in a white dress, but this was the only successful shot. Working with a child model is not the easiest thing to do. I didn't achieve my initial vision, but I think it's better for it. A little unpredictability in work is sometimes a good thing.

Change of background

I've been thinking about the background quite a bit. I really don't like the simplified background with the just the flat value shading in place of the architecture. I'm including the architecture. So far aside from the huge pain of perspective and straight lines, I think it's for the best. I like how it's looking now, it gives more interest to the background. Right now I'm frustrated with the left shoulder, since I've finally figured out the right. I'm also frustrated with how the hair ends there. I think I'll work it out, though if it wasn't for the small hand at the bottom I probably would have cropped off part of the left side of the figure. I still have some problems with the width of the face and still may come back to change that later.
Anyway I'm going to work on this more today, I just need to take a break right now to eat.