Sheila wrote recently: “Here are the gestural drawings I mentioned…..I like how they turned out, but not sure what to do with them”. The dilemma of what to do with initial studies (and these were indeed delightful) is possibly a very wide terrain. Here are a few ideas that come to mind:
- Firstly, recognize that “something’s lost, but something’s gained”….and I would say that it’s not a really problem so long as you still have the original….that’s not actually lost!
- One approach is to include the motif, as is, in a new, broader artwork. A local artist-friend that I know from life drawing groups, David Houlton, often uses his life drawing images in his popular still life paintings: http://www.claudejobin.com/art/?p=2197
- I’ve used a range of my drawings and watercolours as a base for paintings with a fair degree of success. Typically scaling up, sometimes from rudimentary studies, I’ve had to invent details. This can be problematic, particularly if I slide toward realism….larger tends to imply that you need more something….detail…colour … motif. Something. Here are a few of my evolutions from a couple of years back: https://www.davidkearn.com/2013/03/03/watercolour-and-beyond/
- When scaling up, I sometimes cut up an image in the computer, each to the number of pixels constituting an 8 1/2″ x 11″ print at the size that I want, then print, and tape together…the process is a bit fussy and we can talk should you want to try it!
- Where you have drawings with a clean line, as with ink, I find it is possible to recreate the image without losing too much by tracing onto the new media, adding colour, changing medium etc.
- Where the image is subtler, as with charcoal, watercolour, etc I would normally re-create in the new medium, not looking to be anywhere near same and perhaps combining a couple of reference ideas.
All food for thought!
Break-a-Brush!
David