Sunday, September 13, 2009

Death and the Maiden



I'm making some progress on a small panel, part of the BDSM skeleton series, portraying a beautiful woman with a skeleton lover. I got the underpainting on the figure and skeleton done, and started doing some finishing work on the figure's head. The arms of the skeleton will be put in last - he will be holding her hand, and with his left hand, caressing her face.

Had a bit of trouble with the model's left leg. It got distorted when I did the transfer of the drawing to the panel, plus, I think the drawing had some flaw in it to begin with. So I spent yesterday making corrections.

This is one of the most fair complexioned figures I've ever done. The subtle differences in the tone make it a good exercise in seeing and tonality. She has the most beautiful skin tones.

The real challenge of this painting is making all the elements work together in a believable way. I do not have an antique sofa - I had to extrapolate it. The model was actually seated on a black futon. Additionally, I had to extrapolate the relationship between the skeleton and the model. I had her pose with the skeleton, but we could not get it into exactly the right position.