For people struggling... (Girl w/ Pearl Earring)

[aplanic]

Hello,

A few months ago I purchased some Acrylic paints for my wife who was into art while in high school. She did one painting and kind of forgot about the set. I was bored one day and just messed around with them. I was never really "into art" as I was the computer nerd, logical side of the relationship and wasted my time on video games and sports(if you call cycling a sport).

Anyway I did one little landscape, and s starry night copy. Thought this was fun, and decided to try oil paints. I started following those master painting DVDs and did the apple painting and the color theory lessons. I decided I needed a break and decided to paint girl with a pearl earring, or at least try to.

I was not expecting much and from what you can see below it started off looking like a Disney character. Well I sweated and toiled over this thing for a couple weeks and decided I would photograph my progress. I must say by the end I was surprised.... greatly surprised.

I know it doesn't really look like the original but this is light years ahead of anything I ever thought I could accomplish. If anyone is struggling DO NOT BE DISCOURAGED!!! What helped me was turning the original upside down and and just spending time at looking what the master did. Hopefully this is just the beginning...


Sorry about the white balance in some of those..

-Alex

[aplanic]

Darn it, one more before image can be uploaded....

[aplanic]

[marionh]

Congrats on a nice painting, it is well done.
Interesting to see your progress shots and your amendments along the way.

Thanks for sharing.

[Dana Design]

Well done!!! And now you've caught the artist's bug...painting as much as you can. It is indeed a very, very good version of the original and my advice to you would be to continue painting.

[mariposa-art]

Yes, indeed. You show a great deal of potential. We look forward to seeing more of your work!

[aplanic]

Thanks for the comments everyone!

I am probably going to finish off the Master Painting DVDs and then try something of my own. In a way I consider what I did by painting TGWPE more a "craft" then art. I think one of the bigger hurdles for me will be to creating something orginal from scratch but for now I am content just to keep on painting anything. I am still trying to get the feel of the brushes and how the paint flows.

The one thing I was curious about was using different types of canvas? I was having difficulty dropping in fine details and I don't know if it was due to using Frederix canvas cardboard or it's just me still learning. Also will the canvas board last or disintegrate in a couple of years?

Thanks again,
-Alex

[sarastar]

The canvas boards don't disintegrate as much as they bow. You can prevent the bowing by cradling the board. This is pretty easy and cheap to do. And its a good fix for a lovely painting made on a poor support. It just requires an acid free glue, some 2*1 wood strips and a miter saw box. The whole operation will probably run you 15-30 bucks to get set up at home depot, but after that it will be cheap and only the cost of wood to buy further materials to cradle different types of board in the future or to build stretcher bars. You can save tons of money this way especially on larger paintings.

The grain on those canvas boards is rather pronounced, and details are easier to produce on smoother surfaces, you might like buying wooden artists boards with an egg shell finish in the future, some come pre-cradled.

[elaine brady]

My favourite painting which you did a wonderful job with. Also appreciated the progress shots, definitely helped this struggling painter.

[sarastar]

It is really good to see all your ugly phases and your perseverance, you kept on going until you have near perfection! Love it. I would have thrown in the towel long before you did, and thats a bit of a lesson to me to keep on going, its just paint after all and I can still get it right if I keep on refining the painting.

[Roach1976]

Out standing I'd be very proud also

[allblacks]

Hi aplanic, your painting is fantastic! Are you following the Learn and Master Painting course of Gayle Levee's? I have it, but have not started the course. I have this really bad habit of buying courses and being too afraid to do them because I exepct to paint like Leonardo from the first stroke! Sad, I know!

[aplanic]

Originally Posted by allblacks

Hi aplanic, your painting is fantastic! Are you following the Learn and Master Painting course of Gayle Levee's? I have it, but have not started the course. I have this really bad habit of buying courses and being too afraid to do them because I exepct to paint like Leonardo from the first stroke! Sad, I know!

Yes, that is the course I am taking. It helped by just being given goals to work on as she does. Some of the lessons might seems boring but there is a sense of progression (And seeing her paint is MUCH more helpful to me then reading it in a book, of course having a real teacher and class would probably be best). I did desire a break once I finished the color theory lessons and that is when I decided to try my hand at TGWTPE.

-Alex

[allblacks]

Originally Posted by aplanic

Yes, that is the course I am taking. It helped by just being given goals to work on as she does. Some of the lessons might seems boring but there is a sense of progression (And seeing her paint is MUCH more helpful to me then reading it in a book, of course having a real teacher and class would probably be best). I did desire a break once I finished the color theory lessons and that is when I decided to try my hand at TGWTPE.

-Alex

Thanks so much Alex. My goodness, I doubt I will be able to paint as well as you after Lesson 13 I agree, it is much better actually seeing someone do the painting than trying to figure it out from a book. Look forward to seeing your next piece! Cheers, Lynnette

[claras]

Vermeer is an ambitious project and you have done a splendid job! Thank you so much for the progression pictures. I have a Vermeer to post, also, if I can figure out how to do it without causing a brownout in part of Los Angeles.