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| "Royalty" 16x20 Mixed Media on Pine Board © Toni Ruppert |
It was awesome to see her in person after so many years. As you can see from the picture, Pat is very stately and beautiful. Deeply spiritual, she has a strong presence about her.
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| "Pat in Sepia" Photo ©Toni Ruppert |
I started with a 1/2 inch blank 16x20 pine board which I quickly covered with color. I chose yellow and orange for the underpainting. Those colors mean fire and energy for me - I wanted to ensure that came out in the final.
As I created “Pat” I made some decisions. I know you can’t tell from the photo, but I used Sennelier pastels for the back ground. I loved the effect and sprayed it to hold it.
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| Underpainting © Toni Ruppert |
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| Progress © Toni Ruppert |
I chose jewel-like colors to show this.
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| Playing with the shawl... |
I work sometimes by computer. Blowing up the photo on my screen. Yes, my computer is turned on its head. That’s the only way I could rotate the photo just right. It worked....!!
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| Progress with the computer.... |
At this point, I slowed way down. I was having such a good time painting “Pat.” I took my time and enjoyed the peace. At one point, Mike--my husband, took a photo of me painting. It was like the perfect shot.
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| "Royalty" in Progress © Mike Ruppert |
At the end, I knew it was not completed. I wanted to show a pendant with “something” in it. I’ve been going through some tough stuff lately and so have some of my friends. By God's grace, I am sustained. I was moved to show something to depict what may lay underneath the beauty and composed state.
I borrowed Norwegian Expressionist Edvard Munch’s painting Der Schrei der Natur (The Scream of Nature) otherwise known as “The Scream.” I painted the actual head screaming as her pendant.
I immediately knew the agonized expression on the face of the pendant was perfect.
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| Close up of "Royalty" ©Toni Ruppert |
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| Adding the "scream".... |
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| "Royalty" © Toni Ruppert |
“Royalty" is now completed and ready to share. For more information about prints of "Royalty” click to my Fine Art America site.
3 comments:
Thanks for leading us through the painting process. So cool to see how you made various decisions and why.
You can certainly see the strength of your friend from our painting, she has a confident and calm expression yet when you glance down at the pendant, it makes you wonder and you find yourself glancing back and forth between her face and the pendant, also as if you're trying to decide which one to believe. Really love this piece!
Thanks for walking us through your process, Toni! That was very interesting and thought-provoking.
Loved your insight Vanessa! It's great to hear another person's view about what I've created.
Melanie - Thank you so much - I'm glad you found the process interesting.
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