I have met this dog; Zella Mae. She is the baby of extended family
Royce and Brittney Grimes. Not too long ago she was hanging out with us
and her pet dad took this photo with the glasses. I knew immediately I
wanted to paint her as she was awesome looking! Zella Mae is a Shar Pei
boxer mix. I have to admit; she is a big girl, so at first I was a
little intimidated. It wasn't long before I saw what a cutie pie she
was, so I smiled through this color interpretation of her following
along the lines of the fauvist tradition. Thanks Brittney and Royce!
I just want to remind you all of the point of this project as it has been awhile since I talked about the fauvist style. If you remember the fauvists; Henri Matisse; came into being between 1900 and 1910. It was a break away from Impressionism that was all the rage at that time. It is a GOOD THING, and COMMON, and HEALTHY for artists to grown and stretch and change. Change is good, but is not usually always; or really not very often rewarded...it is most often feared and met with negative feelings AT FIRST. If we did not have the fauves who knows how things might have stagnated for a time. Fauve literally means "wild beasts". That is how they were thought of at the time...HOW DARE THEY PUT GREEN IN A FACE...or the WRONG color on an object! UNHEARD of at the time! Impressionism is characterized by catching the light at a particular moment...it is BEAUTIFUL in it's own right...but these scallywags who were changing things with color were not well received when they decided to emerge...Kind of funny to us all these many years later!
WHAT THIS HAS ALREADY DONE FOR ME...I am SO very excited at the fun results I have had already in this project. Personally it has gotten me out of the tight way of working that had begun for me. My oils are fun, and I enjoyed them, but I was starting to stagnate and get too tight. I also, have always loved COLOR...and so I wanted to combine the two; exaggerated color and bolder brushstrokes to loosen up and let this project be an avenue for growth. I STILL like a likeness...but, if you look closely you will see the strong brushstrokes in stead of lots of blending. I think it works fine...hope you do too!
This is Zella Mae in the floater frame like I've been talking about. She is another one that would do fine with a regular frame as there is nothing 1/2" around the edges that would hurt if it was covered up...but, since I have THIS frame, I thought I'd give you the example!
Now that I'm looking at her again...I'm thinking Zella Mae is quite intelligent. FUN!
HAPPY CREATING!
2 comments:
Oh Zella Mae is fabulous!!! Love this with the glasses on. I thought she was a type of pitbull so interesting to see what a combo of Sharpei and Boxer looks like!
Thank you CrimsonLeaves! She has a fabulous personality! :)
Post a Comment