Autumn Harmony Faery

This is the third artwork in my "Season of Faeries" series.

Watch as she comes to life.

Day 1

Here I am at the start of the third work in this really fun series - Autumn Harmony Fairy. And even though the picture on the left doesn't look like much, I wanted to show it because it actually takes a bunch of hours to get all the background sections in place and measured out. With a series like this I wanted to have those background sections be the same for each. It's one of the elements that helps to tie the pieces together. So I measure back and forth between the finished pieces and this new one to get it all correct. A bit tedious but worth it in the end.

Day 2

You can actually see the background sections now, they are taking form. The circles take a bit longer to get correct. I measure over and over to make sure that I have it centered. When I did the drawing for the first Fairy in this series, I some how managed to get the whole thing about 1/2 inch off center. I knew as I was drawing that something wasn't right, but couldn't figure out what it was, until I was getting ready to transfer it to the wood panel. Imagine my surprise!!

Day 3

Unfortunately I don't have a model right now who I can pose and take pictures of for the figures. My daughters are grown and off on their own and the neighborhood girls aren't quite old enough yet. LOL!! (Did you know that Norman Rockwell used his neighbors to pose for the reference photos for many of his paintings?) So I spent days and days and days searching through my figure books and on line and in magazines etc..... etc.... for just the right pose for this fairy. And no matter where I looked I kept coming back to this photo of ... you guessed it ... my daughter. LOL! So this is the one I'm going with.

I wanted Autumn to be sort of carefree with a bit of mischief. It's my favorite season and it feels that way to me. And this photo of Courtney seems to give me the right feeling.

Day 4 & 5

So I spent a bit of time staring at her wings and I really wasn't satisfied with the look. Firstly, they looked too much like Summers' wings. And even though you want the four pieces to go together, I don't want them to be boring. Secondly, the way her back is turned you would see more of her left wing. So out came the eraser!

Then, what I did was to take the actual photo of Courtney and eliminated all the detail, printed up a few copies, like the one you see in the lower right, and then I played with the wings positioning on those copies. It's a lot less stressful and you can try all sorts of things. When I finally came up with wings that I liked, I then was able to work on the actual drawing and get the look that I wanted.

Then I did a little work on her dress.

Now ... what's in the background??

Day 6

It has been a long and difficult week on the personal front. So not a lot of work was done on the art front. I did get a bit of time though. I worked on the draping and folds of the dress. In the process I did make the decision to go ahead and expose her leg and to leave her toes barefoot. I like that idea.

I should get back to regular time at the drawing board this week. So check back often.

Day 7

Worked and reworked the folds of her skirt. You would think that after 25 years as a costume designer the fabric folds would be easy! NOT! It's a bit of a blurry line between the real thing and "making it look like" the real thing. So I go back and forth a lot between the pencil and the eraser.

Also put in hair. But I think I may have gone a little over board with the curls. I do want curls but maybe not this many. Balance ... balance ... balance... ugh!

Slowly but surely she's coming along.

Day 8

Okay!!! Now we're talkin'. She just looked so calm before and I wanted her a bit more lively than her sisters Spring and Summer. I think that swirling piece of fabric helps alot, not sure why but it does.

Then adding the bird helps to give the piece some depth, which it was missing before.

Also worked on her face some. Defining her eyes and mouth a bit more and the shape of her chin too.

I'm debating on an anklet of some sort and I've done a couple of quick little sketches for one, but haven't liked anything yet. As always, we'll have to wait and see.

Oh! I did straighten out some of her curls.

Day 9

Sorry this picture came out so dark, but we're having those spring shower things and the studio can get kinda dark.

I think you can see the work that I did though. There's lots of background now ... trees, leaves, more birds, setting sun rays ...

I really like the blowing leaves that are sort of making their way outside the painting.

Not much more to do here. Yipee!!

Day 10

The drawing is now finished!!! Yipee!!

The flower pattern for the top and bottom borders were really a pain to come up with. One would have thought that I could have used a leaf pattern. But I used a leaf pattern in Summer Breeze and I didn't really want to repeat myself. So off on hours of research I went. The pattern that I came up with was inspired by a piece of art nouveau jewelry.

Then I needed the flute that she's carrying. That created another hour or so in research ... what kind? how big? what's it made of? etc...

I'm still undecided about an anklet. But I think that I will have to wait and see how it looks in color.

Now, time to transfer the drawing to the board.

Day 11

Although you really can't see much here, I thought that I'd include a pic of one of the mundane days of creating a painting. That's me sitting at the kitchen counter transferring the drawing to the wood panel.

Now what you don't see here is the several days of prepping the panel. It's masonite and of course it comes in a rather dark brown color and the surface is kinda slick. So I roll on a layer of gesso with a small stain roller, wait til it dries, then sand it with a fine sand paper. I do that with 3 layers of gesso, sanding in between each. Then I'm ready to transfer.

I create the drawing in the same size that I'm going to create the painting in. Doing that eliminates all sorts of hassle that would come with enlarging the drawing. Anyway, I tape the drawing to the board and use artist transfer paper (like old school carbon paper). I use a thin line pen to trace the drawing.

The transferring takes a couple of hours so sitting at the kitchen counter is pretty comfy and I can see the TV from there! LOL!

Day 12

It's a little hard to see but that's the wood panel with the drawing transferred on to it in the right hand picture. I keep it light so that it doesn't show through any of the light colored paint.

The left hand picture shows my "nest", as my husband fondly calls it, starting to form. I have a tendency to surround myself with all the research photos, books, paint, drawings etc.... for that particular painting. AND ... if I'm working on a series I also have the previous paintings from that series close at hand! I have base colors mixed and have started on the border.

Day 13

I was able to spend lots of time at the easel on this day, about 8 or so hours. And since these were large areas with not a lot of detail to start with, I was able to get a lot of area painted in. And it's sooooo much fun to just play with colors. Which is what this is. I will go back and add another layer of color to these areas, that will help to give them depth. But for now it just looks cool. IMHO!

Day 14

I agonized for a long while about the color intensity for the background trees. Fall colors are pretty vibrant. But I had to consider the fact that this painting is part of a series and that they need to all work well together. And if you look at the colors for the backgrounds of the other two, they are pretty subtle. So I worried. Then ... DUH ... I remember that I work in oils ... AND .. if I start subtle and hate it, I can always add another layer of paint and change it!!! Artists!! Geez!!

So here's the first layer of color for the background trees, sky and sun rays. So far, I like it.

Day 15

I guess the time spent at the easel all balances out. As you can see I didn't spend much time painting on this day at all!! I've been doing some much needed marketing stuff recently and it eats up a whole bunch of time.

But I did decide on a deep brown color for the birds that will match the color in her hair. Can't quite figure out yet what color her dress is though.

Day 16

It's funny, on the last painting I did the wings last, mainly because I was so unsure of the color. In this one the wings have been done first. And truly I'm not any more confident of the color for these than for Summer's. I guess the difference is that I knew that these would be bright and I think I need to get these established before I put color into any other part of the painting. So here they are in all their glory!!

Day 17

Hmmmmm..... Her dress .... When I mixed this color up on the palette it looked like a good idea. But now that I've put it on the canvas I'm not so sure. As I was painting you can see that I tried a few variations on the color. The folds at the back have a bit more orange in them, but I think that makes the whole piece way too orange. The folds to the right, have a bit more of the yellow in them and I think that makes it look washed out. The darker brown in the folds is better, but I think that will make the piece kinda drab. Right now I'm thinking maybe green. Hmmmm .... gonna have to do the "wait until this layer of paint dries and see what happens" thing with this.

Day 18

Well even though I'm still not sure about the color of her dress, I went ahead and finished putting that same color in to the rest of it. If I decide to change colors the whole thing will have to be under painted in the same basic color for the new color to be even.

Then I figured I needed to work on skin tones and her face. Those colors will help me to decide on a color for her dress.

Then I had a grand time playing with the color in her wings. I really love how the tips of her wings go into that deep brown. It gives them depth and pop.

Day 19

Okay, Okay!!! The dress is gonna go green. But a deeper forest type green. That end of summer beginning of fall green. Scared me to death putting in this color. It's dark and would be difficult to change if it wasn't right. Lots and lots of scraping and repainting would have to be done to get rid of it. But Whew!! I think it's right.

I didn't make the final decision to go with the forest green, until I had finished painting the dark edges to her wings. Once the dark browns were in on the tips, I was ready to take the plunge into the dark green dress.

You'll also notice, if you look close, the I've started to add a bit of flesh tone up into the body edge of the wings. I really want them to look like they are a natural extension of her body and not just glued to her back. It'll take a bit more work to get them there but I think it will look better.

BTW - I have a new email newsletter, If you want up to date notice of new art, new products, sales and special discounts please sign up. Here's the link --

Teri's Newsletter

Day 20

Kind of slow going right now. I've been spending a lot of time on paper work and marketing stuff and not a lot of time at the easel. But I've almost got the dress repainted and the more I do the more I think that I made the right decision with the deep green. I do like the orange highlights that are coming. I'll have to put more of those in.

Don't forget that I have a new email newsletter, If you want up to date notice of new art, new products, sales and special discounts please sign up. Here's the link --

Teri's Newsletter

Day 21

The full change in dress color is now done. Well, the first layer anyway. And I'm still happy with the change. Whew!

Then I worked on putting in skin tones. (she now actually has fingers and toes!) And some more work on her face. Still more work to be done there, but it's coming along.

Don't forget that I have a new email newsletter, If you want up to date notice of new art, new products, sales and special discounts please sign up. Here's the link --

Teri's Newsletter

Day 22

I know that it doesn't look like there's much difference between the last day and this one. But I did to a lot of work on her face. Really!

And then I did the outline work on the top and bottom border details. It takes quite a while to do those. I put the outline in first on these because I want those lines to almost disappear. So if I line them first, then paint them in, the inner painting will overlap the lines some and make them very thin.

Below is a view of one section of my studio. Thought you would enjoy a look into my world. Tucked in behind the paintings on the left is my "office" space. It's even more cluttered.

Day 23

I've got the top and border "flowers" in now. And I think that they help to bring the piece together. I wasn't sure about the swirling fabric color, but I thought that adding a new color would make the painting a bit too busy. However, I think that maybe the forest green is a bit dark. I may go in with some lighter highlights later.

Day 24

Well I finished putting in the rest of the swirling fabric. Then I went back and actually darkened the fabric in her dress. It needed another layer of paint anyway, to give it depth and I thought that it needed to be a bit richer in color. BUT I will be going back in to add lighter highlights.

She's getting pretty close to finished but it does seem to be going really slowly for some reason.

Don't forget that I have a new email newsletter, If you want up to date notice of new art, new products, sales and special discounts please sign up. Here's the link --

Teri's Newsletter

Day 25

Well I know that yet again it doesn't look like a whole lot has changed, but the dress has highlights now that are a lot lighter and that pick up the orange from the wings. Then I added the swirling leaves in orange tones also.

You can't see it very well in this small image but her wings need a second coat of paint also. So that will be next.

Day 26

Well the wings received a second coat of paint that helped to smooth them out some. Then I felt that her skin tone was a bit cold, so I warmed it up a lot with some yellows and burnt sienna. You can see the difference on her arm and leg. I will have to get to her face and back also.

A few more leaves went in to help accentuate the swirling motion and the sun rays got a bit of a punch up with some slightly more intense yellow.

I added some lighter highlights to the top and bottom border repeats. It helped to lighten them up a bit (I thought they were a bit dark) and it helped to give them a little more depth.

This piece seems to be requiring quite a lot of tweaking.

Day 27

Changed the color tone on her back neck and then face to match the warm up I did on her leg and arm. Then filled in some of her hari around her face and down her back.

Then spent several hours working and reworking on her face. But when I got to a stopping point, I stepped back and really wasn't sure that I liked it much. SO ... I'm gonna let it sit and come back to it another day.

Ugh!

Don't forget that I have a new email newsletter, If you want up to date notice of new art, new products, sales and special discounts please sign up. Here's the link --

Teri's Newsletter

Day 28

(note: these colors are far truer than any of the others. The light was right in the studio.)

Finally, I think I'm happy with her face. She looks a bit more innocent now than she did in the last image.

Finished up work on her hair. I lighten it up some to help soften her look. And I added some flowers to her hair.

Then I put in her simple head band. I think she's complete now. I've debated giving her an ankle bracelet or a tattoo of some kind, but I really like the long line of her bare leg. So I think I'll leave it be.

Then I moved on to the slow process of adding the lines around the background sections. I use a light sienna for this. I want them to stand out, but not too much, so the soft color works well.

Looks like she'll be finished this week!

Day 29

Well, it is well and truly at the end. I've been adding the lines around the wings, her hair and her upper body, arm and hand. You can really see how that helps to punch up the focal objects.

There looked like there was this weird strip on her back ... I fixed that.

Looks like one more day of lining and that should be it. But I'm off to the State park for the day tomorrow, but with the weekend weather forecast being miserable I'm sure I'll finish her either Saturday or Sunday.

Thanks all for your support and for watching as she came alive.

She is finally finished!!! And she has her very own page in the Faery Realm Gallery.

Click the diamond to fly there and see how she turned out.