Now Ive completed my blocking in ( cartooning). I rarely make any attempt at shading with this stage, its just a rough study for me to access my final colours and where to place light and shade. It also serves to block out the sometimes intimidating white of a blank canvas. I always block in with much paler shades of the final colours and with flesh areas and possibly fabrics I will only apply enough paint to make a uniform covering yet still allow the white canvas to glow through, hopefully I can retain this 'glow' in the finish with my very thin translucent glazes of oils. To explain it better, the skin colour now present will remain the lightest shade of flesh in the final painting, same goes for the angels hair, what you see now will end up as the high lights and maybe areas reinforced with even lighter shades of yellow, orange or even flake white to further effect the illusion of glossy hair and to strengthen form, light and shade. As usual I pick an unconventional pose, most times I bite of more than I can chew and end up working hard to convince the viewer that everything is in the right proportions. Foreshortening can confuse the brain ! The viewer will be looking up rather than the normal predictable onlooker and sitter same eye level approach. Who wants to paint portraits ? Well I do, I do little else but I want to have a narrative there as well, even in my animal portraits, the angle and stance tells you everything. This pose shows the angel in control but not dominating, similar to a little child's view of mum when they need comfort but,,, the same view may be applied to the child on the carpet in front of the school head, that's where the sympathetic face and the lips ready to plant a loving kiss hopefully alter the viewers perception. As a child I witnessed all three scenarios, looking up at the stone angels in the cemetery, regularly looking up at a furious head master and finding solace with mum who's little soldier could do no wrong.
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