Frida Kahlo

Wow, it is already June. I have just returned from an awesome vacation to Italy, running around seeing incredible works of art...my feet have never hated me so much, but it was worth it! Have yet to shuffle through all the photos, but when I get a chance I'll find some favorites to share:)

When working on this digital painting of Frida Kahlo, I focused on color, shape and feeling. It is my interpretation of her, and less tied to getting an exact likeness and more about developing a character. The values are not as accurate as I normally try to achieve, but I am happy with the luminance to the overall painting. 

I've also included my reference board to show my influence for this painting. The photograph is just a launching point . . .try not to limit your inspiration to one source. What a great exercise it is to work from an old photo and develop a new color scheme. I've done it once before and it is definitely a challenge! I drew color influence from the work of Frida herself by playing with the yellow/orange cast to her skin, as seen in a lot of her work. I also included signature Frida elements such as; a monkey (recurring in a lot of her portraits), an outfit I liked the colors of, ribbon in her hair and roses too. 

It is tricky knowing when to call something finished(subject of a future post) but for now I am happy with the result and definitely learned a lot along the way:)