Well, well, well. We meet again! Skull still lifes throughout the spooky season. This is fun!
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Skelly Godiva, 17×22″ pastel on sanded paper by Marie Marfia. Sold.
Yay! All done. That was quick. Sort of. Compared to the last one, I mean. Skelly Godiva was a challenge in more ways than one but I’m very pleased with how she turned out.
Actually, it might have been worse. Fortunately for me, Collier’s original included a beautiful red blanket covering most of the horse, so I wasn’t faced with a second ribcage to render, hah! It’s the little things that keep me from going insane on these pieces.
This probably took me close to 40 hours to finish. The Old (Dead) Masters paintings often require a lot more craftsmanship, just because I’m going for a pretty accurate copy, otherwise the joke falls flat. Well, maybe it does anyway for some people, but those aren’t the ones I am painting for!
Thanks again, Megan, for the idea to do a Lady Godiva skeleton painting!
Here are some time-lapses of my latest work in progress, Skelly Godiva. This is number 19 in my Old (Dead) Masters series and it’s based on a classic painting of Lady Godiva by John Collier. Enjoy!
There are more time-lapses for this piece are on my YouTube channel.
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Nos. 16-17, 100 Portraits in 100 Days, 8×10″ pastel on UArt 400 sanded paper, mounted on foam core, by Marie Marfia.
Here’s a cute couple. From the reflections in their sunglasses, I think they must’ve been at a park when they took their picture. Awesome! I’m a nature gal, myself. Although, I can get my fill in an hour or two. I love walking the trails, but I don’t want to be out there all day! I got stuff to do! Places to go! People to see! Know what I mean?
You’ll notice that on this portrait I opted to use a distorted grid. Couldn’t resist. It was such a twisted sort of skeleton portrait to do.
Here is Liz’s selfie of her and her fiancee, showing off the big rock on her fourth phalange. Oh happy day! They’ve since gotten married. I fell in love with her blue hair while working on this piece.
Liz and Fiancee, Nos. 12-13, 100 Portraits in 100 Days, 8×10″ pastel on UArt 400 sanded paper mounted on foam core by Marie Marfia. This painting is available, $200 plus $12 shipping. Contact me to purchase.
Hey, No. 8! This is a skull on request. The original selfie was very dark, which I liked, so the resulting skull is pretty dark, also. Still managed to get some color in there, though. I like how this one turned out, with the pink and turquoise and blue and purple. I love the glowing background, too.
No. 8, Izzybutterfly Totem, 100 Portraits in 100 Days series, 6×9″ pastel on mat board with pumice ground by Marie Marfia. Available $100 plus $12 shipping. Contact me to purchase.
No progress pictures for this one! I was so into it I never stopped to take any photos!
Whew! Seven already! But after only a week, I feel like I’m getting into the swing of this. I’m starting to look forward to these every day and the challenge of potluck as far as reference materials goes! Kinda fun!
Deb, No. 7, 100 Portraits in 100 Days, 6×9″ pastel on mat board with pumice ground by Marie Marfia. This skull portrait is available. Contact me to purchase.
First, I’d like to thank Rae Crowley, who sent me a selfie and told me to roll the dice. I rolled a 5, so I skullitized her portrait. How cool to start the series off that way!
No. 1, 100 Portraits in 100 Days, 6×9″ pastel on mat board with pumice ground, by Marie Marfia. Available $100 plus $12 shipping. Contact me to purchase.
The first one is always the hardest, isn’t it? I didn’t have my stuff ready to go, had to find mat board, the pumice mixture, find a cup to mix it in, a brush, a rag, my pastels. Oh blah, but in spite of all that, I had fun when it got right down to it, and I think it turned out well, don’t you? Onward!
Another in my Old (Dead) Masters series, Vincent Van Skelly is my homage to the wonderful Vincent Van Gogh and his Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear.
I liked the original piece because it’s all complementary colors, green and red and orange and I liked that he chose to paint himself with his bandaged ear foremost. Like he was saying, here I am, with all my faults, now deal with it.
I imagine he was sorry that he’d lost his temper, and in the process, a good friend, Gaugin, because of it. I can relate. I have a quick and violent temper myself, although I’ve been a lot calmer lately. I think it’s because of yoga every day. I wonder if Vincent would have been happier with a daily yoga practice? Well, probably non-lead paints would have helped, too.
Want to know something interesting? On the page opposite this picture in the book Van Gogh’s Van Goghs, there is a picture of a skull that Van Gogh painted. How do you like that? I’ll bet he wasn’t working from an anatomically correct resin repro either. I wonder how hard it was to get a real skull to work with back in those days?
Here are the progress pics:
Charcoal sketch
Red and orange block in
Start with the darks
Blocking in more color
More progress
More progress
Getting close to the end
Almost done, final tweaks
Vincent Van Skelly
The original Vincent Van Skelly is available in my shop, and also as a signed 8×10″ print, a signed 11×14″ print and a greeting card.
Here’s my take on Johannes Vermeer’s “Girl with a Pearl Earring.” I can’t remember now how I happened to decide on this one for my Old (Dead) Masters series, but it might have had something to do with my scaling my artwork down right now while we wait for our house to sell.
All my studio is packed away and has been for weeks and it just got to the point where I decided I’d rather paint small than not at all! Accordingly, this is a relatively small painting, only 8×10″, perfect for an apartment or tiny house!
