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Nap Time
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| Medium: |
Pastel |
| Base: |
Paper |
| Year: |
2011 |
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Pastel on pastel paper derived from a photograph I was kindly allowed to use from a Facebook page about our lovely Australian wildlife. The original photo had a more detailed background so I have removed that to concentrate on the joey. How could anyone resist the beautiful little face of such a vulnerable baby kangaroo! |
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After being entranced by this lovely pose, I asked permission to use the original photo as a basis of the artwork. The site says that the photos are freely available but I like to ask anyway, just to be polite and so that they know what is being done. With this taken care of I made a colour laser print after removing unwanted detail to get going on the finished artwork. As most artists, I am not interested in a direct copy of any photo. I get inspired by them and then create my own artwork with it's own character and style and also with it's own colours, as many photos flatten the colours and fill in shadows. |
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This Pastel painting was so much fun to do. Once you get the outline of the composition done and the eyes in, the character of the animal starts coming out from the surface very quickly and you are in a way, just revealing it. The goal is to set a light source if one is not obvious, but in this case it was very clear, then decide on your colour range and medium - of course, and then makeup your mind how detailed the work is going to be. For example, is it going to be a photographic realistic copy, a realistic artwork, an impressionistic representation or somewhere in between? I took a lot of details out of the blanket covering the joey. The colour was great and one of the things I originally liked, I just didn't want the distraction of too much texture and detail taking the focal point away from the animal. |
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Early in my career I would have gone for as realistic and detailed as possible but I have changed my style in recent years and find that I am drawn to a more impressionist style of art. I like to leave things to the imagination and use light and colour a little more along with the medium and the unique textures that it may add. I want more emotion to capture the feel of a scene and the character of the animal to be of more importance than trying to reproduce a photo. After all if you want a photo - take a photo, if you want an artwork it should, to my thinking, look like it is one with a little of the personality of the artist mixed in with the paint or pastel. |
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That is what the ultimate goal was for this little joey. Nothing much to take your focus away from him and how I see him, how I want to present him to the world through my eyes and from my heart and head to the surface of the pastel paper. Everything around him has to bring you back to his face, the complementary colours, the lighting and all the details of the basket, blankets and pillow must only be supportive and not overwhelming. I hope this does justice to the original photo and to the unique wildlife we are lucky enough to have in Australia. |
| Dimensions: |
62 cm (width) × 46 cm (height) |
| Ownership: |
Artist |
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