-
Showing posts tagged Gil Elvgren inspired
-
As a newly trained oil painter, I decided that I wanted to study the amazingly gifted pinup artist Gil Elvgren. There’s loads of great work out there, but Elvgren is my favorite by far- the richness of oils, the glowing skin tones and hair, his amazing illusions of sheer fabrics, his impeccable color sense… I could go on and on!
In order to really dig in and learn from Elvgren, I started a “duplication” of one of his pieces- As you can see, I completed a charcoal sketch on my canvas. (Note: this is a “freehand” sketch, not using tracing or projecting). I’m noticing some drawing errors now that I see it smaller (in photograph form), but they’ll be easy enough to correct when I start painting!
The canvas is 24x30,” the size Elvgren most commonly used in his work- and much BIGGER than I’m used to working!
Stay tuned, more pics to come! :-)
-
Ok, now this one is SATISFYING!
Starting again with an Elvgren painting for inspiration, I set the parameters of my drawing, and blocked in a rough sketch using my light yellow twist-up crayon. Only after I really had it RIGHT did I move on….Once I had the sketch in, building up these rich beautiful colors was the fun part- Holy moly I love these crayons! The vibrancy of the colors, the texture on the paper, the waxy smooth way they glide across the page… and the fact that I can get soft effects, OR sharp details, all based on subtle changes in pressure… I LOVE ‘em! Crayons are totally underrated! :-D
-
Another Crayon study of an Elvgren Painting.
The difficult part of this picture is -in my opinion- getting the stockings just right. I want to get the illusion of a sheer dark layer of shiny silk hugging those glowing orangey-pink legs, and it is CHALLENGING!
How do you think I did? -
Starting with the same drawing as yesterday’s painting, I decided to give this image another spin- this time I changed the background to a sunset sky, and made a few minor adjustments to the face.
****************************************************************************************
If you’re interested in purchasing this item, it’s available in my new Etsy Shop:
www.BetsyVanDeusen.Etsy.com
http://www.etsy.com/listing/94656026/pinup-watercolor-painting -
Day #3 of working on watercolors inspired by Elvgren’s painting “Smoke Screen…”
This time I changed almost all of the colors, and made adjustments to the face again.
Which version is your favorite? :-)
-
I feel like it’s been awhile since I sat down and did some serious painting…. so I dedicated this morning to correcting the “nightgown” portion of my Gil Elvgren Reproduction painting.
The first time I worked on this piece, I left the nightgown very light and very loose. Then, when I went back in to refine it, I got lost in the folds (with their subtle variations of tone and color)… In short, it was making me CRAZY.
Today I started out by carefully studying the Elvgren original, and sketching in some of the bigger shapes with charcoal. Then I got in there and focused on getting the main tones of the folds in. Next time I work on this piece I’ll soften things up, tweak the colors, and work on that Elvgren subtlety! :-)
Likes
-
-
-
Marilyn Monroe is guest of honor at a party hosted by Ray Anthony, 1952.
-
Happy Birthday to FREEHAND PROFIT!
To celebrate, check out his online...
-
Le Sourire
Illustration by Henri Gerbault
