On December 18, 1993 my mother had a baby girl named Aria. 20 years later, Aria has blossomed into a beautiful young woman. A few months ago, I was perusing some art and became inspired. It has been such a long time since I have been inspired to do anything outside of paint a wall or build a table. I must admit I was quite excited. The picture was of a woman's face that had had been filled in with lots of color and digital design. Then it hit me...I wanted to try some mixed media. I like painting, but I do miss the easy and free form of just doodling. Why not mix them together. All I needed now was a subject. Then I thought of Aria. She's such a big supporter of mine, and I don't think she has any of my art yet. Besides Christmas was coming up. It was perfect!
I started with a picture of her as something to look at. I'm not particularly good at portraits so I always need a reference. Now, Aria is a wild and free spirit to say the least (ironically much like her older sister). She had a ton of photos on Facebook, but it was hard to find one without some sort of photo effect or her giving a crazy face. I ended up having to ask her for a "normal" photo. She was quite surprised to find out Christmas Day, that it was not for the family tree project I originally told her about.
First came the sketch. It took me weeks to get this perfect. I must have traced, measured, shaded, retraced, and remeasured a 100 times. It was absolutely grueling. I thought I would never get here. I'm an abstract artist, so drawing real life (especially portraits) is not my thing.
The first layer was ink and markers. When I decided I was going to try this project, I also used it as a reason to buy new markers. I have some already but they're mediocre...good for just playing around. I was about to get serious though. I want to eventually invest in some Copic markers, but they are EXPENSIVE! On average they're about $5-$8 per marker depending on where you buy them. Now, imagine if a decent set is at least 24. You figured it, they're not budget friendly. I would hate to pay for them, and then not really use them after a couple of months. So, I'm testing these out to see how I do.
I've never done this before so I didn't really have a plan. I just did a little bit at a time. First, I added the hair. Aria wears braids all the time, so I mimicked that kind of look. Then I added in the cute eye situation and lips. Her favorite color is blue, so I knew that would be a major color. Not only did I want the picture to look like her but also have her essence, so I kept in the finger. The squares came out of no where. It jumped in my head, so I put them down.
Now mind you, I did the whole picture over the course of a couple of weeks. Some sittings I did more or less than others. I just went with what hit me at the time. After the first layer, I went in for a deeper eye situation. I also made an attempt to cover up the squares. As fast as I added them, I decided I didn't like them. I did what I do best and just free handed random design right on top.
I wasn't satisfied with her face. It needed something more. So, I added in some extra design and color. At this point though I felt like her face and the background were starting to look mismatched. Same canvas, 2 different pictures. I began adding some of the different colors from the face to the bottom to try and tie it all together.
With a lot of marker work done I wanted to start painting. I did a color wash over the background. There was so much going on everywhere else, I didn't want the background to be too busy. I was out of luck making the bottom work so I kind of color washed that too. I don't know if this made it better or worse, but I was stuck with it now.
I finally painted a more permanent name. I know you can still see remnants of the other name, but that was okay with me. I added some design to the bottom. I know you're thinking why the heck did I cover the design just to add more. That's the back and forth of creating I guess. Sometimes you have good ideas, sometimes bad ones, and sometimes you have great ideas that after 2 days end up a giant fail. What can you say. I got carried away trying to add more paint somewhere, but it didn't end up so well. One of those not so good ideas.
I gave the background one last layer...
and there we have it...Aria in technicolor! Not bad for my first mixed media piece. I really like the way it turned out. It was touch and go a few times, but happy with the final result. I will definitely be doing more. I just need to find another subject. Maybe I'll do one of myself. (That's could be interesting.)
So, I bet you're wondering what did Aria think of it? She absolutely LOVED it! She was so excited when she opened it Christmas day. She thought it was quite cool. She even complimented on how accurate the sketch was of her. (I'm glad someone noticed) All of the blood sketching, sweat coloring, and tears measuring, the joy on her face made it all worth it.
I guess that means it's on to the next project! (Fair warning is being given...it's going to be a doosey!)
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