Little Karoo At Night - Finished! (No, for REAL this time!)

Now she really IS finished!

If you compare her with the last version, you can see the subtle improvements.

First of all, as you can see, I did make not only her head, but her neck, shoulders and upper torso a little bigger - making her upper body much more proportionate with her tail.

I also darkened the water (again) - because I didn't want it to be quite so cyan blue - I wanted it to be more of a teal blue. But when I did that, the original, darker (and more accurate!) skin colour of my mermaid didn't show up so well, so I needed to lighten her to provide a little more contrast with the water.

Unfortunately, although i was VERY careful removing the mermaid's body from the piece in order to re-do her uppers, the beads became loose, so all my hand-stitching was for naught - I had to sew them all down by machine. Boo!

I also painted over the moonlight with a lavender wash and then a light blue wash, and added some grey-blue ripples, so the moonlight didn't read so unrealistically white.

I also improved upon the rocks, as much as I loved them in their original incarnation, I felt they needed more depth and interest, which I created by adding painted highlights and lowlights - dropping a big, liquid dollop onto the spot and then rubbing it in with my finger.

I also made some subtle improvements to the waterfall, adding shades of blue, grey and lavender and added still another wash of black and then grey on the cliffs, to provide more contrast with the sky (compare with the original HERE.)

The improvements took more than a few hours, but I think the time's been well spent - I really do think she's noticeably improved!

So, she's all done. She has her sleeve, her label, even her bag - and is all ready to go the City Gallery Waterfront Park in Charleston, SC in August.

Did I tell you I'm going too? I'll be there for the grand opening of the show on September 6 - if you're in the area, I'd love to meet you!

2 comments:

Karen S30.7.12
She's beautiful -- so contemplative...

And I appreciate your sharing your process.
Beth31.7.12
How exciting for you to be gong to SC. Now I am just jealous I won't be there to meet you ...but one day.
Now about you piece. I love the lavender and grey in the moonlight both on the water and waterfall. She is still lovely and I do like the increase in size. What a wonderful piece. Have a ball there and soak up all the praise that comes you way. I'm sending my positive energy along with you.