Into the Fog - that Risky Glaze

 One of the scariest of our painting process with Intentional Creativity is the "risky glaze,"  where we take our painting into the fog ...

During my first class, our teacher Elizabeth handed us a spray bottle, a big brush and transparent color (Quinacridone Nickel Azo Gold) diluted with a bit of water, and a soft cloth (piece of T-shirt).

She had us lay our canvases flat, then demonstrated spraying the canvas, brushing on the color, and then burnishing it in, using the cloth! ... And then we went off to lunch! 

Yikes and Wow!! 

Used this way, a glaze integrates the colours we've used, and helps unify the picture. It also offers an opportunity to reflect on what is going "into the fog," what concepts are being integrated. 

We move back (5-6 feet away from the canvas) to gain perspective, and spend some time with our journals, exploring inquiries, "what do you want me to know?" ... "What can you help me understand and integrate?" ... "How can i move forward?"  

We jot down answers and insights, and sketch composition ideas and any new  symbols.

The first time I glazed a painting, I was indeed shaking in my boots - what was I going to loose? This painting process becomes a crazy process of "loose her, find her!" ...distinctions disappear, lights darken, colors merge ... 

Now, applying and working with glazes has become a favorite part of my IC explorations, and one I look forward to! Here's another post on glazing. 

Blessing Star

After the glaze, it's time to begin to bring her back, a new round of lights, darks and mediums, a round of highlighting, of deciding whether to reemphasise symbols from the earlier layer, or bring in new ones. 

Darks: under the hairline, on both sides of the eyes, on one (or both) side of the nose, under the bottom lip, under the chin, sides of the neck.

Around items that are in front - around the face, around the symbols (here, the Blessing Star), between layers of hair.

Lights/ highlights: feel the raised areas of your face: tip and bridge of the nose, cheeks, center of eyelid, forehead, ear lobes, center of the throat - are the lighter areas of the face. I use titan buff mixed with my light colours on the face, and sometimes in other areas.

Sometimes we use misty white around a symbol to give it a note mysterious calming - for this is for veils and bubbles, I like mixing Titanium White with glazing medium, and using a fan brush or shader, or sometimes a foam brush-(this is a good time to experiment on your compost canvas!) 

The rounded areas on the lips are also lighter, and you can add highlights to sections of hair or headdress, and to allies and other symbols as well.

Shiloh comments that painting lips is like applying lip gloss throughout the day - play with them each time you work on the face! A little light, a sheen of colour ...And smear  with your finger! 

I like editing a photo to grey scale when a student is having trouble seeing where more contrast is needed - this different perspective lets us see quickly where to bring more light or dark! 

Medium: bridge the lights and darks on the face and on symbols and allies. Sometimes it's a mix of your dark and light colours, at others, a shade between those. I often use Quinacridone Nickel Azo Gold for the intermediate areas, and for the crease above the eye. Bringing in medium tones adds subtlety and definition to the features and expression. 

Before or after glazing can be a good time to change a shape a bit of if I need to - reposition an eye, lengthen or shorten the nose ... 

This is great to demonstrate in classes, "brushes in the water, come see ..."
Acrylics are easy to rework - you can't get this wrong!!

We generally use the Golden Fluid acrylics, delicious colors and richly pigmented, but very sheer. Like my first muse, Gabriella, Wonder Woman has a harp, and I used gel medium to bring in more dimension.

Second glaze

I painted Wonder Woman in a class with European graduate Jessica Envald in an online workshop in 2019.

We used different colors on the right and left sides of the canvas - Quinacridone Nickel Azo Gold on one, on the other, Quin Magenta, ... 

I added a bit of iridescent gold over parts of the hair, and burnished with my cloth. Then, I let her rest, while I explored in my journal. 

One of our inquiries was on allies and arch enemies - which super heroines balance between. What are some of those inner demons?'

When glazing after a round of lights and days, you can quickly wipe it off raised areas, which brings in more light!  

Wonder Woman - Stepping out of the fog

Gabriella's Harp

I love this process of exploration with intention. Here are some thoughts and images on the inquiry, "what would you tell a friend who is considering Color of Woman training," from last year's class, Color of Woman 2018, and the story of my hummingbird which is a symbol on my Taliswoman, and has become a spirit helper for my IC classes. 

Happy painting! 

Definition and more color