Week 7 - Cityscape week… and my first oil painting sale!
Giving all the travel nostalgia vibes ✨
Oh boy… Week 7 was so much fun!
Disclaimer; I am a big positive Paula through this whole blog post!
At the start of the week, Elli gave a pep talk video to reiterate that if we find this week hard, get overwhelmed or create a bad painting, not to let it put us off and just have patience and work through it.
I did not need this pep-talk this week 💃🏽
I was thriving, not just surviving honey!
Maybe it’s because I’ve already created a couple of cityscapes before, because I love travel photography, have a new love for charcoal, or I am just drawn to this kind of imagery anyway.
The first task we had was to create a cityscape with charcoal.
Not long before this week, I had been in Paris for new year’s eve, so something to do with Paris seemed appropriate.
Rather than go for the obvious, and use an image of the Eiffel tower, I thought back to my trip there and found an image that I feel captured some of the unique beauty that Paris has to offer - I found the most beautiful shot of Pont Alexandre III, in the rain. In the glistening light of night-time.
The greatest part was the subtractive method with charcoal allowed me to capture the wet reflections on the bridge, and get that subtle glow in the sky - ‘The city of light’ 😁
Next, we were tasked with drawing a crowd of people.
One of hardest things prior to the Mastery program, was figuring out how to paint or draw lots of details, quickly.
I used to use the amateur, inch-by-inch method which would be so painstakingly slow, so would never have even considered drawing a crowd of people out of choice.
But this lesson taught me how to layer up through blocking in the darkest values, and then subtracting out the midtones and highlights.
Game-changer.
This is based on one of my favourite photographs ever. Vikki Dougan was an American actress and model who was known as ‘The Back’ in 1950s Hollywood, due to her daring backless dresses.
She was a provocateur who turned heads during her prime - radiating power, feminity and sensuality.
Fun fact - Vikki Dougan was the muse for the iconic character, Jessica Rabbit.
I love her.
(If you want to see the full process video, click here.)
The best part about week 7 though?
I sold my first-ever, non-commissioned painting.
I fell in love with this shot of Delmonico’s the minute I saw it, and of course I had to paint it.
I love the way the building is emerging from the misty, grey sky in all it’s glory, like “you can’t hide my vibrancy baby” and… I felt that.
She’s so unique, she’s standing proud and juicy colours of the brickwork is just 😍
But what I really was not expecting, when I shared the photos of the finished artwork at 7pm on a Wednesday night, was to wake up on the Thursday morning to a message asking me if the painting was for sale.
I definitely screamed when I checked my phone at 8am.
Looking at this painting again now, I love the rich colours, the palette knife textures, the atmospheric sky, the contrast of the yellow cab, next to the ocean turquoise windows, and the terracotta red of the brickwork beside it… It’s a good painting. And had it not sold so quickly, I probably would have been reluctant to let it go.
I hate to sound like a drama queen but…
This course is changing my life.
I already feel like my skills have improved so much and this is only week 7… We all know I love a cityscape painting - Taipei… Narai Juku…
But learning how to capture perspective and how to actually build a piece from the background up, lay the paint down, trusting my gut, leaving all of the brushstrokes… It all makes such a difference.
And she sold!
I am so excited to paint more cityscapes. There are so many places I want to paint, visit, admire!
So, here she is.
‘Delmonico’s’, 2023 - SOLD
18 x 24 - oil on canvas ❤️🔥
Delmonico’s' may be in it’s forever home, but prints are available 🧡
Both charcoal pieces are available, as the original, or as a print ✨
Want to be the first to receive these posts straight to your mailbox?