Pirate Faery

This is the first work in this new Faery Series.

The concept is that the Queen of the Faeries, is having a Masquerade Ball for all the Faery Folk and we get to have a peak at all their costumes!!

So strictly speaking this series really has no end and is wide open in terms of interpretation. What I'm hoping to do is to create the initial four or five works in the series and then be able to come back to it now and again to create addition pieces as new ideas strike me. Hopefully it will all work out as well as I envision.

Here's the start of the first faery to have her costume ready for the midnight masquerade! She's chosen to be a pirate! Which should make for a fun and colorful start to this series! As with my recent pieces, I'll be creating the drawing full size so that it's really simple to transfer to the wood panel.

I did a bit more detailing on her face than I usually do in the drawings because I sort of felt the need to get to know who she is. LOL! Maybe because I don't have a name for this piece besides "Pirate Faery". Seems to be a bit boring. If you have any ideas let me know.

There are a few things that scream pirate for me -- a great hat ... some big cuffs ... gold buttons ... and a laced up vest/bustiere. So I started with the hat and cuffs. Which you can see here, then began some work on her wings.

Not sure that I like the wings much, but I DO love that hat! LOL!!

(Not sure if you all know or remember, but in my former life I spent 25 years as a Theatrical Costume Designer. So this series is really going to be fun for me. As a Costume Designer I did have to make sure that the costumes that I designed were able to be created and worn without Divine intervention. But with this series, THAT is NOT a concern!! WooHoo! )

Okay, this is WAY too much fun!! We now have more sleeve-ettes, more definition in the bustiere, lots of fun with skirts and drapes, a start on her mask, more wings, a bit of a jackette (giggle) and some detail in her hat.

Hmmm ... wonder where she'll go from here??

I was able to spend lot of time at the easel since the last photo! And Yipee!! She's really coming to life!

• Lots of fun drapes to her skirt
• Feathers and trim to that great hat!
• More hair (of course)
• Stripes to the bodice
• Trim to her jacket
• Necklaces
• Chains to her belt
• AND new wings!!!

WoooHooo!! The drawing is finished! But I may be really sorry about all this intricate detail when I have to create it with a paint brush!! LOL!!

Most of the changes/additions here are in the fabric patterns. Lots more stripes and trims. Some more swags on the hat and ribbons on the mask.

I have little to no idea about colors, but I'm getting the feeling that she's gonna be bright and garish!

Now to transfer the drawing to the wood panel.

Here she is all transferred to the wood panel.

I had to use a different transfer paper (the art store wasn't carrying my usual paper anymore. Grrr!) and I hated it. It gave me thicker lines and darker lines, which is NOT good. I think I will have to paint a layer of white over the top of this transfer to make the lines fade away some.

Well the transfer paper that I used for this piece, went into the trash!! Not only did it leave marks that were way to dark, no matter how light I pressed, but when I decided to put down a covering layer of paint to lighten up the transfer, the marks started to smear!!!! Grrrrrrr! So I had to use a stippling technique of painting, like you would do with a stencil, to cover the marks and not end up with an awful mess!

It took twice as long to get it covered and now I have a bit of a rough surface to work on, when I worked so hard with the gesso applications to keep it as smooth as possible. Ack!

I'll have to track down my original transfer paper and order it in.

In any case, painting has begun!

Well it seems that I'm working a bit differently with this series. (You know sometimes I really don't know where a piece is going until I get there! ;-)) The background looks like it's just gonna be color with not much detail. I kinda like it. That puts all the focus on the faery herself.

As with the drawing I worked on her face right away. And as with all the other pieces the face never really looks the same from the drawing to the painting. And I have NO idea why that is.

I did a lot more work on her face and chest. So I think I now have a pretty good idea of who this is. Her personality, in any case. Which will really help as I go along.

Also a bit of work on shadowing and shading the background. I still think that I will keep it simple and just use variations in color rather than any sort of pattern or detail. So far I think that it's working. It's giving the piece a sort of 3 dimensional look.

LOL!! I'm pretty excited about how this is turning out so far.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Couldn't resist putting in her hair, even though it's really not quite time for this much detail yet. But it helped me to figure out just who she is. It may get a bit darker than this, but right now this color is working for me. And goodness, doesn't she just have the best attitude!!

Then I found most of the gold trim and put the first layer of color in for that. It'll take a few more for it to really look like gilded trim, but this is a good start!

I'm really having fun with this. Can you tell?? LOL!!

I looked and I squinted and I thought and pondered and I just about tied myself up in knots, getting up the courage to put in some REAL colors. And here is the start of them!! Yikes!!!! So who's idea was it to take her over the top??? ROTFL!! Hmmm... I think that was me!!

Anyway, so far I'm liking the choices. There's still lots of fabric left, but I do think that I've found the core colors.

A bit more of the orange and filled in the stripes with pink!

Progress gets a little slower now as the details always take longer to paint.

I went just a little nuts trying to decide on the color of that central skirt. I mean, it's gonna be right there in the middle and it's really gonna make a statement.So should I go a little more subdued with the color so as to not overpower the painting???

THEN .... I thought .... This is a faery with a bit of attitude and the nerve to show up at the costume ball as a PIRATE for goodness sake. SOoooo ..... the skirt went RED!! It does match the jackette after all!

(Note: This photo is a bit more true to color than the one above. As I've said before, the light in the studio sometimes changes the colors a bit. When I've finished a piece I wait til we have an overcast day and then take the piece outside to get a photo with true colors. It makes photographing in the winter a bit difficult and sometimes rather hilarious! What we do for our art! LOL!)

I was able to spend a nice amount of time at the easel and got a good bit of work done. I carried the pink from the wings into the bottom skirt and I think that that works well. But I think that the pink may need to be punched up in color some so that it goes with the rest of the vibrant colors.

And the purple in the middle skirt and the belt with have to change some so that they match the purple in the hat.

I did have fun putting in the orange and red stripped drape. She just keeps getting happier and happier!

A bit slower progress on this one. Details always take longer. And trying to paint straight lines is really a laborious process. Ugh! But she's moving along. And truly, she makes me smile every day!

The other sections that I worked on worked on were the top of the arm/sleevette things and the lace on the bustiere. There will be several more days of "refining" and adding in some more of the fine detail, but she's on the down hill side. WooHoo!

Lots of shadowing work done here. The most obvious is on the right side of the purple waist sash. But there's also more definition to the left side of the Jackette, the purple stripped waist sash and the wings on the right side behind the body of the fairy.

All of this work helps to add depth to the piece and give it a more 3 dimensional look. It's slow going but I think that in the end, it's really worth it.

It was hat day!! Now there are feathers and the broach is done, and some more shadows and shading to get the hat to have depth and really pop! I think that it's coming along really nicely. maybe a little more work on the yellow poofs, then the hat should be done!

Sorry about the copyright line, but with the painting almost finished now, I have to start adding it to protect my rights to this image. Sad, but necessary.

Anyway, her mask and the accompanying ribbons are done. All that's left is to go back and add in the hair that I painted over while doing some work on her wings. And then her jewelry will need to be done, then the final lining work. I think that's all that needs worked on. So she could be finished this week!!!

I had fun putting in the jewelry drapes on the skirt. And I think that not only do they add some nifty detail, but they serve to break up that large expense of red skirt, which might have gotten to be way too over powering. And they add interest to a large expanse where nothing much was really happening. I still may go back in and add some colored stones to the gold chains, but for now I'll let it sit and see.

I also --

Whew!!! Almost there. A few days of the black lining that I add at the end and that should be it!

Got ahead of myself yesterday when I said that all that was left was the lining. Ooops! First, I had to put her hair back in where I'd painted over it. Then her necklaces needed to be put in. And then I could start the lining work.

Sometimes I wonder if the lining makes the central figure pop out. And if it's worth the long, muscle aching hours that it takes to put it in. But when I look at this picture and see the difference between the lined and unlined sections, well, I think it's worth it.

Well the lining work is all done. I think I will add a little more shadows and then she's finished. I'll set up her very own page in the Faery Realm Gallery.

This one has been a joy to work on!

She's finished and has her own page in the Faery Realm Gallery.