This photo is called Phantom Queen and has been the inspiration for more than one piece of artwork.
She has kind of been nagging me of late so chances are there will be a few more pieces to add to the Queen Collection.
As soon as I get at least Part One of HELL AND HIGH WATER published I plan to take a break from writing and get some art done.
That, my friend, is going to happen ASAP. Part One is just about ready to go - a final edit and I can get it into print.
As for the Queen artwork ... the colors aren't going to let me go. I've got to invest in massive quantities of cobalt blue and metallic gold.
I've got a big square canvas staring me in the face.
I've got it reversed, an experiment to see how it works to do my 'sculpted', high textured paintings within the protection offered by the framing of the stretched canvas. My thought is that I can then add glass to the framing without damaging the painting.
It's worth an experiment.
At any rate, a couple of things are in my head at the moment, both of them based on the above photo.
One is to do aspen leaves in gold over a cobalt background, of various sizes scattered all over the place.
The other is to use the texturing and see what I can come up with in terms of an interpretive piece of the Queen.
We shall see what we shall see.
My first step is going to be to get the back (actually the front, but in this case it's going to be the back) of the canvas coated with stabilizing paint - several coats I'm thinking, of plain white. Then a top coat or two of that liquid rubber I have for my boots. It dries to a blue color that I'm hoping won't clash with the cobalt. It will be on the back and won't really matter, but it's the principle of the thing.
And my gut tells me to do the Queen painting first so that's probably what I'll do.
I can get the photo into my projector and use it for a guide. Because the 'experiment' my sister talked me into trying fell flat on its face, I'm going back to using plaster. It will mean working very fast and not having any wiggle room for 'fixing' but will be worth it.
The texturing means I'll have the bulk of the painting done in white on white (plaster over white paint with another coat - or two - of white paint over the top of the plaster to help protect it). Once that's done all I have to do is put the colors on.
I'm only going to do the central stand ... the trees off to the sides aren't going to be there - I think. To get the square instead of the photo's rectangle I'll just carry the sky and ground out to the sides leaving the Queen centered.
Yep.
That ought to do it.
Because it's an interp piece I don't have to follow any rules.
The cobalt can go straight down to the bottom of the frame if I want and I can just leave the ground totally out of the picture if I want. White and black for the trunks, gold for the leaves. The texturing will make the 'front' leaves pop but I can still use shading and highlighting to emphasize the depth.
So that's what's on my agenda.
What the Queen will actually decide she wants remains to be seen. For all I know she'll just opt for gold highlights over cobalt including the trunks.
Yep.
Gotta get this Story done I surely do.
