A full frontal selfie wouldn't work with a mask -- and besides, I wanted to show my birthday gear. Some I've been buying for myself with a view to putting best foot forward in 2020. Some came in the mail (with back-orders still to come) and several literally arrived on my doorstep bringing a huge "Surprise!" factor, along with delectable treats, favourite coffee, flowers, wine...........UmmmmMMMMmmmm.
One of my friends has said, "You don't do clothes shopping like I do." Well -- we just don't shop at the same places. My waterproof Goretex shoes are from Mountain Equipment Co-op, the indestructible brimmed hat from a renowned P.E.I. garden supply shop, the lined flannel shirt from Mark's (formerly "Workwear World," if that gives you a hint) and the tan corduroy trousers from L.L. Bean. (Groan...every year it gets harder to adopt that cross-legged pose attempted here).
A personality feature sometimes assigned to Geminis is that they love to play...and never quite grow up. I'll own to that although I'm not keen on another Gemini trait: Being scatterbrained. Maybe that's why I like to work in series, and my timing was perfect with Gemini hitting The Zodiac Cafe just as its sign rolls through the heavens. (May 20-June 20).
If you missed my plan for this portrait series, check here, and you'll see that along the way, I'm revisiting my astrological plant series of a decade ago. A common shrub of the coastal valleys is Twinberry -- my inevitable choice back then for a plant to accord with Gemini, the Twins.
And now, let's focus! It's not just all play. The purpose of the Zodiac Cafe series is to hone my ability to distinguish physical traits and the factors that express them in a painting. What do you do to make "deep-set eyes," for example? How is a "broad forehead" different from any old forehead?
This is what I had to work with in Manly P. Hall's synopsis of the physical characteristics aligned with Gemini:--
"Head and neck long; forehead broad; chin pointed; eyes expressive; hair light; lips thin; mouth small; nose aquiline; body slender, fingers long."
Flipping through my papers and sketchbooks, I found a starting point in one of the best faces I've done at the life drawing studio. This also suited my plan to alternate male and female faces in this series:--
A fact about this accomplished and athletic model is that she has a pronounced overbite. It's barely evident in my drawing but, oddly enough, it showed up rather spontaneously in the quick painted study I made as a warm-up.
The overbite wasn't a feature I intended to keep. With Hall's description, I had my hands -- and her head -- full with the aquiline nose, small mouth and lips, and pointed chin. Here's the final version of "Zodiac Cafe - Gemini" (copyright 2020):
And if anyone was concerned that this artist Gemini might have felt isolated and alone on her birthday, don't give it a thought. The Cardboard Club & Friends showed up in force (another dozen or so are waiting in the wings of this photo) -- and since we share the same bubble, the celebration had no limitations.
No comments:
Post a Comment