My newest digital painting of a woman, that slightly resembles a natural version (little to no makeup) of Lady Gaga. In A Weird Way Was It Possibly Inspired By The Movie.. A Star Is Born???
I Guess I Have Some Explaining To Do ..
Have you ever seen the motion picture called 'A Star Is Born'? It stared Lady Gaga and Bradly Cooper. This post won't get into explaining the plot of the movie or how good or bad it was, but I will talk a little about Why It may have had an influence on my art.
I saw the movie.. and I am still not sure if I liked it or could leave it. My wife didn't like it, or the ending at least (no spoilers here, in case your one of those that hasn't seen it yet). Either way, it did leave me feeling a bit depressed and rather emotional. The song 'Shallow' has been played way too much.. or was at least. I am a believer that these things get in your head and have a way of coming out through art. I think that's what may have happened to me.
Lady Gaga.. The movie portrayed her character as a somewhat normal everyday girl, transformed into a colorful singer performer of a different kind by the movies end. We don't always get to see the natural looking Lady Gaga. My picture of her is more or less the makeup and glitter version. I guess the long short of it is I developed a different perspective of her (physical looks) while watching the movie.
The Influence On My Art ..
Art can be influenced by all sorts of things; feelings, emotions, culture, experiences, and even memories. Call me crazy, but I think some of these memories may have made their way into this digital painting I have been relentlessly working on. I just completed (I think), a monochromatic portrait of woman that has some strong similarities to a stripped down, no makeup, Lady Gaga.
I polled my wife (of course), and a few of our friends. They also agree with my interpretation. Naturally I may have influenced them by saying it looked like her before I actually asked them who it looked like.. but lets not get too carried away with the facts. hehe.
Did the memories of the movie make an appearance in my work? Who Knows.
The Art!..
YES, Let us get to the meat of the post. The Art! So let me start by reminding my audience that I am a hobby artist with no formal training or schooling. I like to think that I have not yet been polluted by the bad habits of others or gotten poisoned by 'their' preferred stylistic measures. Now I am obviously kidding when I say that. I hold all those that have gone through training and educational programs, to the highest regard. I just like throwing a little humor into my otherwise boring posts.
I have been studying digital art.. and lately I have been spending more time than normal, playing with my limited skill set and a copy of Adobe Sketchbook. I have no clue what all of the tools are for yet, but enjoy discovering new ones as I devote more time to digital work. As with this piece, I sort of stay in my comfort zone, and have been utilizing a few pens, pencils, brushes, and smudge tools. I feel like I can accomplish a lot with the simple tools, but know there is a whole other world out there waiting for me when I am ready to try new ones.
'Beauty Of Discipline' ..
I chose this name because I felt it served the piece well. In my opinion, the piece, the woman, represents beauty, and I applied my self to it in a very disciplined manner. On occasion I have been known to rush things a little. I don't give my art projects the time and energy they really deserve. This time I took my time, worked on each area of the painting, until it was done to my content.
I put many many hours into this piece, and I hope it shows. I know it's not a show stopper or museum worthy art piece, but I do have to say I am very proud of what I accomplished. I set out to paint a portrait of a woman, using only black and white, and it turned out looking like an actual human being!
You may think that is a wacky thing to say, but if you know me, I hate drawing/painting faces. I am just no good at it. Well this time I wanted to change that. I utilized applied some advice received here on hive from another artist. After I painted the entire background black, I laid in some very light grid lines in order to define exactly where the facial features would go. It work! Or at least I think it did..
Advice and Criticism IS welcome.. My own opinion of my work may be a bit cloudy and undeserved. God knows that I give myself plenty of criticism (not advice, that would be a little weird). It would be nice to hear a little feedback in the comments section. Good or bad.. give it to me strait!
The Process..
Unfortunately I am still working on how the whole record feature works and is transferred to a file that will work here on hive. I'll figure that part out in time. One foot in front of the other.. baby steps for this old man. Trust me, just learning how to paint digitally is already too much to process.
I can try and explain my thoughts on certain areas of the painting. That much I can provide! Sorry if the close-ups are not of great quality. It could be the program.. It could be the artist! lol
The Hair.. I utilized a lot of layers along the hair line and underneath the overall head of hair. After that was applied, I narrowed my strokes using a brush, then blended those areas. In the final steps, I used a pen tool and applied thin wispy lines in hopes it would fool the viewers eye into thinking they were strands of hair.
The smudge tool really worked well for me when creating the look of hair. I think gently flowing, smooth hair is important. It took a lot of trial and error for me to get this final look.
The Nose .. I didn't really have to spend a lot of time on the nose. It sort of fell together easily for me. Just enough detail was applied without making it the focal point of the piece. It really came together well and looked perfect to me, after I applied the highlights and dark shades in the final steps.
Is the nose rather large? Some may say, but I think it is just perfect, and just about the same size as Lady Gaga's. hehe.
The Eye.. Just one of them to be exact. I only painted in one eye and let the other one fall into the darkness behind the layers of hair. I spent several hours on this feature. I was having a bit of a rough time with the shading around the lid, corners of the eye and the eye brow too. In the end, I made it work with the rest of the face.
I had almost forgotten the eye lashes and noticed they were missing toward the end. I thought for a minute they may be too long, but settled on keeping them just as they are. I decided long before starting, that the eye would be shut. I think the piece is more powerful this way, delivering a feeling of calmness and serenity.
The Mouth.. Wow..The Mouth.. what can I say.. I suck at them. I erased and worked this area of the face a million times. Did it come out well? I think so. I wanted the lips to look as if they were just slightly open, soft, and relaxed. If you look closely I tried to draw in the idea of a tooth being visible. Look real close hahaha. I may add a few touches to this area still. I hate being a perfectionist. The corner of the mouth gave me a little trouble as well, but eventually I got it just the way I had envisioned it! Just a slight crease causing a bit of a shadow.
The Highlights.. When I thought I was just about satisfied with the overall portrait, I began applying highlights. I didn't want to over do it, and detract from the dark and mysterious theme, so I was light handed on the highlights. I placed them in areas where a face would be the most reflective, like on the smoothness of the hair and the oily yet powder laden skin. Her face is really only being grazed by the light, so I applied most of the reflection to the forehead, nose, eyelid and some hair around the face.
The Shading.. I also went gentle on the shading. Most of the dark tones were present at the beginning of the painting. If you remember me saying, I started with a black canvas. I more or less worked from the back forward toward the light. I would go back to my blending tools and work at moving the dark areas into the lighter areas, trying to create a sort of completion or bone structure. This can best be seen near the cheek bone area, above the eye, at the temples and on the forehead.
Final Thoughts ..
So what do you think? See any resemblance to a natural, no makeup Lady Gaga?? Does this digital painting look like a human being at all, or am I just fooling myself? Overall I am proud of myself for not giving up when faced with the unfamiliarity of something new; Digital Art. In the eyes of adversity I prevailed. Joking aside, I really am happy that I spent countless hours on this piece.
If for nothing else, I learned more about painting and creating in the digital world, and learned techniques I can apply to painting here in the physical world. I am sure
I didn't solve all of my issues when it comes to painting/drawing/creating realistic looking faces, but I did make some improvements to my abilities.. And I can't ask for more than that?
Thank You For Joining Me ..
And props to you if you actually read this bad boy from top to bottom! You haven't heard the last of me yet.. Digitally Speaking.. I have a few other projects in the works. I even finished another oil on paper painting of a turtle I am anxious to share with you guys. I'll get to work on that later. Like this post, it may take me multipole sittings in order to complete it with some sort of quality.
One Last Time, 'Beauty Of Discipline' ..
**I almost forgot something!! I changed how I am signing my work. Initials are SO MUCH easier.. What is your take on that?
“The difference between a path and a road is not only the obvious one. A path is little more than a habit that comes with knowledge of a place. It is a sort of ritual of familiarity. As a form, it is a form of contact with a known landscape. It is not destructive. It is the perfect adaptation, through experience and familiarity, of movement to place; it obeys the natural contours; such obstacles as it meets it goes around.”
― Wendell Berry, The Art of the Commonplace: The Agrarian Essays
Thank you for swinging by my blog and checking out the post. Have a great day!
All words, pictures and art pieces are the sole property of B D Miller Gallery, unless otherwise noted and credited, and are not to be reproduced or copied without the prior written consent of B D Miller Gallery.
About Me ~ The Artist
My art work incorporates a wide variety of subject matter, including landscape, seascape, cityscape, and still life images. My works are the product of a continuing process of exploration through which I seek to portray personal and visionary interpretations of my surroundings. My paintings are impressions of places and events from everyday life, an interpretation of my imagination, and personal responses to what I see and feel on a daily basis. More recently I have invested generous amounts of time into my landscape painting. I am surrounded by natural and man made beauty, which inherently presents itself in the tri-state area, and almost demands that I paint it.
Not everything is art. Art is not everything, but it comes close. Art is everywhere and all the time. Art makes you experience the beauty of the world, the people in it, and the places we call home. Art itself is so influential that it can tell stories, show feelings, and express passion or fury. Art exists in addition to language; expression of sensations and thoughts, revealing a way of thinking too subtle and delicate for words.
For me art requires love, honesty and perseverance. In return, it reveals some personal, non-analyzable, and creative untamed passion. For the public, art with its magnificent beauty, improves mood and health and builds better human beings and communities. It engages the intellect, softens the heart, strengthens the soul and frees the spirit.
If Your Interested In Purchasing Any Of My Work:
They can be found for sale on
Saatchi Art
Or
Etsy
If you don't see the piece in either shop, It may still be drying. Let me know and I can upload it as soon as possible to be available. Or you can always make me an offer (in HBD, Hive or any other crypto) in the comments section of this post. If we agree on a price, I will then ship the painting to you. (shipping costs will be determined by your location).