Labor of Love - Complete WIP

[Elankat]

For posterity...This was a piece done in March of 2003 with a modified version of the original explanations of my process.

Labor of Love
18" by 24" (omg, it's HUGE)
Prismas on white Stonehenge

This is my son, A.J. It is based on him at 2 days of age. I had a small photo of his half-covered face. I'm using a sweater I own that is close in color to the hat. The blanket is similar to the one that they gave him in the hospital. I considered using the blanket that he came home in, but it is blue and I wanted some contrast in color. I drew an initial mockup in Photoshop to figure out this composition. I wanted to portray what I see as a mother. I'd also love to do a breastfeeding one from the same perspective.

I always work with a very large sheet of glassine under my hand. I just have this "thing" about smudging. It's the reason why I can't stand working in pastels or charcoal. I hate messy, smudgy or dusty mediums. I'm at the point where I don't like working in graphite either.

Here is a picture of the grisaille that I did on the hat and face. I'm still working on the rest. I use complementary colors on the hat and colored portions of the blanket. I use Peach for a grisaille on flesh tones. French Greys, Cool Grays, Greyed Lavendar, Black Grape and Clay Rose are being used in other areas for the underpainting.

[Elankat]

Because it's so big, I'm working in a very different manner for me..."Gemma-style." It's working out well because the piece divides nicely into very different sections. So, I'm starting in the center and working out by section. This will keep my hand off the completed areas. I smudge things so easily. So, I'm working on the piece sideways from center to right. Then, I'll turn it as shown in the image and work left to right on the unfinished areas. I'll touch up areas as needed. The sweater is a fine gauge cable knit, so I'm dreading it.

I'm taking the sheets to a blue too. The only "whites" in the piece will be the swaddling and sleeve. Beyond using blue to symbolize a boy, I wanted to provide an unusual view in an abstracted manner of a common sight, using the color to set a mood and focus. At one point, I considered taking this to only the most abstracted shapes of color. As usual, I have trouble with abstracting things too much and always end up going back to a more realistic treatment. As it is, I'm doing the piece more realistic than the sketch, which was not my original intent. However, in making that decison, I decided to focus on textures, line, and color. I want the peachy orange of face and hands to serve as subtle complements of color to the blues. Along with the brighter colors and whiter highlights in the swaddling, I want them to move the eye through the piece.

I also wanted to set a certain mood. I did not want to portray a scene of innocence or sterility (which white connotes for me). It's part of the reason the first sketch took the sheets to such a rosy gray shade. Starkness is not something I want within this piece, since I want the feelings of nestling, craddling, warmth, and protection. Innocence isn't a goal either. The face even has some brown tones to it to try and give that "little old man" quality that I see in a newborn's face. Within the few "whites" there is a lot of warm, rosy color of Jasmine, Cream, Mineral Orange, and pinks to warm it as much as possible.

Outside of the "technical" goals that I had on this, I also have a particular attachment to my blue sweater. I never wear white, so to do a sweater in white removes one of the personal connections from my piece. I don't remember much about what I wore around the time he was born, but I do remember that I was wearing my blue sweater when I brought him home the next day. Above all, I'm trying to avoid an "Anne Geddes" look to the piece and most of her newborn work is heavy on the black and white/innocence symbolism.

[Elankat]

I have real trouble keeping track of my colors. I've already forgotten what I'm using on the sheets, which is bad because I haven't finished all of them yet. Oops.

This WIP should probably be called "how NOT to work on a piece." So, don't work in the manner I do. I do it because I have to or I'd pull my hair out. I go crazy working in a systematic manner, so I end up jumping around a lot. It works for me, but probably isn't the best role model.

I'm in the middle of working on the sheets. There's still more layers to put on them, so they are looking a bit lumpy. The background is also going to get a few more darks in it. You can see that I've started drawing in the sweater. No, it wasn't drawn in on the drawing transfer. The piece is pretty much life size, so I've got the sweater sitting on the drafting table and just doing it from life. Didn't want to mess with the logistics of drawing and then transferring it. I'm still building areas in the baby blanket too.

I tried to scan a portion so you can get a better idea of the color. This is sort of accurate. The scanner is picking up some funky grays in the hat that aren't there in reality. There are also a lot of rose and purple tones in the blues that aren't coming out. The baby's face isn't that highly saturated or light, either. I couldn't seem to get both the blues of the background AND the baby's hat and face to register correctly, so I tried to get the blues close to the true color. Digital cameras are annoying. Scanners are annoying.

[Elankat]

Well, my arm feels like it's about to fall off. I worked on the sleeve and didn't like several things about it. However, I want to finish the blues and darker sections of the piece before I mess with it anymore. I built it up with consideration to those values, so I'm pretty certain that I'll be happy with it when those values are added. I've put a slight blue tone into the sleeve too.

I'm still building the layers of the sheets, but they are getting pretty close. As you can tell, the upper right quarter is still very much in progress. My arm is killing me from doing those wide patches of color. The blues have about 10 to 12 layers so far. I've sort of lost count.

The sheets are mainly layers of Cloud Blue, True Blue, Mineral Orange, Lilac, Peacock Blue, and Mediterranean Blue. The darker passages have Indigo, Black Grape, Pumpkin & Goldenrod. In some areas, I may have added Black, Aqua, or Pink Rose...but I honestly can't recall at this point. lol

The blue in the background is using Med. Blue, Peacock Blue, Violet Blue, Mineral Orange, Pumpkin, Indigo, Black Grape, and Black. I hope that's right because I'm going to recreate the color in another section. Must try to write things down in the future. I love the yellow tones that I get when mixing Mineral Orange with blues. Added with the purple, it gives a nice depth that's not quite real, but luscious.

I wish I could tell you what the sleeve has in it. It's a blur. Mostly Indigo, Black Grape, and 90% Cool Grey in multiple light layers. Some Mineral Orange, Jasmine, Goldenrod, and Pink Rose. White for burnishing on that particular area. I also use a lot of subtractive technique in the highlights of the sleeve and hat...mainly electric eraser, but also Stikki Wax and reusable adhesive.

I'm sorry to not be more clear. I didn't really intend this as an instructional thread, so I haven't paid attention much to remembering the colors. Here's two more images for you. I did manage to take the thing outside, so the lighting is decent and colors are about as accurate as I can get with my digital camera. Of course, I didn't shoot the image straight, so excuse the angle.

[Elankat]

Details on of the sweater. Look how psychotic I am!

I stop as soon as I start to feel fatigue in my arm. Part of the reason it goes so slow for me is that I'll often draw for just 30 minutes and then take an hour break. It's the only way I can stay focused on a big piece like this. So, when my arm hurts, I stop.

I have a notebook that tracks pencil colors, medium, size, hours worked, techniques, etc. When I use it, it's great. I used it a lot to help set my pricing. I haven't been so good about it lately.

Well, I'm sick of blue. Maybe not. However, I am out of Mediterranean Blue and did not make it to the art store today. So, I didn't do much on the piece. I did start laying in the grisaille on the sweater. I'm using 90% French Grey and touches of Terra Cotta and Pumpkin Orange.

I thought I'd show you my obsessive side. Here's a detail image. This is the little bulge of the sleeve by the hat. I don't know how fast I'll be progressing in the next week. The sweater will take time because I'm drawing it as I go. So far, it's gone faster than I thought it would.

[Elankat]

Hmmm. Looking back, I'm wondering why I ever did this much work!

Woo hoo! The insanity continues! Here's the latest image of the silly sweater. Let's just say that this part is going to take a while. On a good note, I have a system now and am getting quicker with the sweater pattern. This is just the grisaille for it. It will be blue when I'm completely finished. And I will try my best to do an article on how I did the sweater.

I'd guess that I have between 6 to 10 hours in the sweater so far. It really isn't as difficult as it looks. A big advantage is that I am drawing from the actual sweater and it sits on my drawing table, right beside the piece. So, I can turn it, stretch it and get right up close to it.

Basically, I spent a little bit of time observing the knit and then figured out a system for rendering it. Since knitting is logical, the system is logical. It's a lot like knitting the sweater all over again.

I'm actually enjoying this part the best. Too often, cp gets boring for me with all the layers. This has been particularly true with such a large piece with big color passages. The sweater requires concentration and I like that. My husband thinks I'm very insane for doing that much detail.

Here's another image of the sweater. I've worked my way across. You can see that I've started fleshing out a section of cable knit. The reason why there is a blank space is because I was scanning the cable knit section for a tutorial. Having white space on either side makes it easier to demonstrate how I do it. If you look at the lower left corner of the image, you can see where I've started developing the knit pattern. I'm really enjoying this sweater. I guess that's a good thing since it's about 1/4 of the piece.

I'm using just 90% French Grey applied lightly. Then, I'm toning some spots with Terra Cotta and Pumpkin. The darkest area has some Black and Tuscan Red to warm it. Then, Indigo and Mineral Orange will be applied to some areas. After that, I'll start with the blues and some lavender. Probably Cloud Blue, Greyed Lavender, Mediterranean, Indigo, and touches of Black Grape. The end result that I'm striving for a grayed blue that has a bit of a "worn" look to it but still has some unity with the lavender and orange undertones in the other blues of the piece.

[Elankat]

Well, I'm starting to get bored with the sweater. Actually, I'm just bored with one of the patterns in the sweater. But that's alright because it's almost done. I just have the grisaille on the sleeve and then the shading and layer starts. I've applied the first wash of cream to the hands. There's still so much to do on this.

Here are a few images. It's hard to take a decent picture at night. The first was taken with a flash and the sweater is washed out. The second was taken without a flash and is pretty decent, but there is light glare on the baby's face, so that area looks washed out. The third image is a detail of the sweater.

The hand only has one wash and almost no shading. Part of the top over the thumb is already shaded with some reflected blue. Until the flesh tones are added, the blue of the top portion gets lost in the image.

I should add that this isn't from a photo. My son's face, hat and the sleeve is referenced from a small photo I used to have on his personal website, but that is all. The rest was drawn from life. The first sketch was on the wacom. Sweater details were drawn on the actual piece.

The hand will be flatter from the angle because the hand is not being viewed from the upper side, but the lower side with the blanket covering the fleshy portion of the abductor pollicis. Hold the left hand with fingers spread and very relaxed with the thumb loosely extended outward. Then, rotate the hand until you are viewing the underside of your ring finger. There will be almost no pronounced curve on the top side of the hand. In a younger hand or a pregnant hand, the fullness of the tissue will cause almost no knuckle at all to show. An older or emaciated hand would have a minimal pronounced knuckle ridge. The curves appear on the underside, which is covered by fabric. Most of the contour shading is within the inner lines of the hand.

[Elankat]

Okay, so I've been working on the sweater. I'm officially starting to get tired of it. Half of it is mostly done, except for any final corrections after I finish the whole piece. The other half has the highlights added and I need to go add the darks. I'm not happy with the sweater. It's okay, but it could be better. Not going to mess with it though.

In a nutshell, the basic process is: I spray the grisaille with fixative. Touches of Terra Cotta are added in the dark areas. Then Cloud Blue, Lavender, Deco Pink, True Blue, Mineral Orange, and Mediterranean Blue are applied. These washes are very light and spotty with some areas not having some of the colors. Then, every single stitch is outlined again in Indigo Blue. Next, highlights are pulled out in some spots. Then, every single stitch is burnished with white in the highlighted area. Last, I add spots of Terra Cotta and Black Grap. I reapply Indigo around each stitch. When it goes over the white, it makes a nice lighter blue, but gives a nice dark over the unburnished areas that have Terra Cotta and Indigo. Last, the darkest darks are filled with Black. White is used to streak some areas and some spots are lightly burnished with a stump.

If you think it sounds like a pain, then you are probably right. Here's two images. One is the sweater. The other is a close up of one of the more finished areas. I should note that the cable knit in the more finished area is going to get a bit more work to even out the tones. That's the part I'm not happy with. Well, it's one of the parts I'm not happy with.

You can see where I already lifted some color.

[Elankat]

Lah, la, la, la...Elmo's World.

Well, I have another update. I didn't get to do too much work this weekend. The sweater is getting much closer. I've started working on the hands and blanket a little more. The grisaille of the sleeve is started. I'm jumping around a lot, so that's a sure sign that my attention span is getting really short on this piece.

The image was taken inside without a flash. I tried getting the colors close with Photoshop. It's a touch dark and some of the detail in the colors is lost, but it's enough to give you an idea.

I still consider myself a beginner to cp. I think it's good for other's to get a glimpse into some of the doubts and frustrations that I have when I attempt a piece. Things don't always come easy and I like other's to know that we all go through some of the same worries.

The hand that's in profile has changed quite a bit. I shortened the fingers. The underside of the hand is starting to be defined, as well as knuckles and other form/shape. I'm still adding color and depth. It doesn't have nearly all the washes yet. The other hand is a little more finished, but still has several washes and I haven't done much shaping at all at the fingers and knuckles. The blanket is still very much incomplete.

Here's the full piece

[Elankat]

Final stuff. Full image and details of top and bottom.

[Bill C]

Well Leanne this is amazing :clap: :clap: , you were worried about that sweater? You nailed it! :D I havent seen enough of your work before to know that you are this good :( . Now, I know you've been busy creating art of another sort, but it's time for me to crack that whip!!! :devil2: :judge: IT"S TIME FOR YOU TO DO ANOTHER PIECE! :rolleyes: even a small one, just to get back to it. You have to much talent to let it lie dormant for long. ;) :p :D

[Bob Ebdon]

I too had not seen this before LeAnne, and am speechless - it is wonderful! You have to do another or Baby 2 will be jealous!

[Norma69]

I've seen this before - loved it then and still do. Thanks for posting it here, now I can study it with the much clearer pictures seen on this site.

I agree with Bob about getting back into it, but understand about the busys, mine lasted about 40 years with my two :eek:

Norma

[Dee]

This is wonderful...I agree with Bob. You definitely have to do another one. :angel:

[Brenda]

Awww... LeAnne. It's perfect! I've seen this finished on your website but had never seen the WIP. The details on this are amazing!

You are so talented.

[Gemma]

You go Girl! I loved this one before and still do!! Thanks so much for posting WIP on it. This truly is a labor of love!
Gemma

[Jazz]

I loved watching this the first time round and was agog at the sweater detail then and I still AM -WOW!! I can't believe you weren't happy with it -it is wonderful!!!

Thank you so much for re-posting this Leanne, it was a joy and very interesting to read through and view again :) .

I do agree with the others, I do hope sometime in the near future you can find some time to do some more CP art, you have such a talent and a real ability to explain things well.


Huge hugs,


ALI

[Elankat]

Thanks everyone. :) I wanted to repost some of my older stuff just to have a record of it here. Once I dig out the rest of the old scans, I'll post threads with a few other pieces too.

Hopefully, I'll have new stuff to post once the baby gets a regular schedule. And yes, I'll definitely have to think up a new companion piece to go with this one so each boy has one. :D

[CindyH]

I remember this one...but it's so lovingly done..you always take such care with details. What a keepsake. Can't wait to see what else you are going to "create".

[beth]

This is insanely good. It really excited me to learn CPs. The WIP is wonderful to see. Beautiful work!

[illustroni]

Leanne,

Just wanted to let you know that when I stumbled across the "other" site about two years ago, this was the first thread that I opened... and I was blown away... the technical execution, the emotion that it evokes... practically perfect in every way! :D

To this day, it continues to be one of my alltime favorite images.

Thanks for providing me with one of my "small pleasures"...

~Roni P.

[CPSr4Me!]

This piece is eye-poppin', jaw-droppin', heart-stoppin' wonderful!! I'm awe-struck! :eek: The baby's face is s-o-o-o perfect; and all that detailing...WOW!! :clap: :clap:

Thanks so much for posting this with the wips, LeAnne!!

:bye1: Sandy

[JudyakaPinky]

Hi L,
Of course I've seen this before, of course I loved it then and still do...but did I ever tell you that I truly appreciate your attention to detail ( even if you're nutz ... lol ). One of my favorite little bit that you put in this is the moles on your wrist/arm.....just love that nit-picky stuff... heehee, just great. :) :)

Hope to see you do one of Anthony some day.
:)