Just Another Pretty Face

[rowyn]

A couple of weeks ago, I bought Let Them Eat Cheesecake, the aptly-named collection of Olivia paintings.

This put me in a mind to paint a cheesecake picture, which is ironic given that I don't like cheesecake all that much. Well, I do enjoy looking at scantily-clad women in wildly improbable poses. But not enough to hang them up in my living room, or to look at the same one for hours on end. And if I'm going to put all the time in to do a painting, I sort of have to stare at it for hours on end while I'm doing it.

I have this love/hate relationship with the whole idea of pinups. On the one hand, they're fun. They're fun to draw and they're fun to look at. On the other ... man, everyone does them. What do I need to paint pinups for? There are eighty bazillion of them out there already. Does the world really need one more cute naked chick?

Anyway, I wound up doing a portrait of a fully-clad woman. The face was based off of Olivia's "Whiplash", though the final result scarcely even bears a passing resemblance.



I like the way the hair turned out best. It's not perfect. But the color is right. I could do better with the waves and the positioning the next time.

Comments

Tools?

[howardtayler.livejournal.com]

What did you use to paint the picture? The play of light on the clothing is very nice.

--Howard

Re: Tools?

[rowyn]

Whoops. Forgot to mention:

Like most of my work, this started as a pencil sketch which was then scanned into my computer. I "painted" it digitally, in Corel Photopaint v 8.232. (Unlike the remaining 99.9999999% of digital artists, I don't use Photoshop or even Painter). I mostly used the airbrush tool in Photopaint for the lighting effects on the clothing.

I do some real media work (an example) but most of my color work is in digital for two reasons:

a) It's easy to pick up and put down -- no brushes to clean, paints to get out or put away, etc.
b) It's cheap.

It's surprising how compelling (b) can be as an argument. I'd be tempted to try markers -- I've seen people do lovely work with them and they'd be easier on (a) than my favorite real media, oils. But I just can't justify the expense of buying yet more art goodies when I know how little I use 'em.

The play of light on the clothing is very nice.

Thank you! (Howard Tayler complimented my work! Squeee!)

[tuftears.livejournal.com]

The brushwork for the hair turned out great! The face seems a bit wide for the head.

Reminds me of a random story idea I had some time ago: in this near-future setting, genetically engineered tattoos are used to identify members of powerful aristocratic families. No one charges them any money, no one stops them from doing anything, because they see the tattoo and immediately know they are one of the families that are richer than God.

Movie stars often depict members of these families in exciting adventures, but they are always forbidden from using the exact images, they always have to be off in some recognizable way. The actual symbol is recognizable from the family's corporate products. Anyone violating this restriction has, ah, unfortunate things happen to them.

So this one ordinary woman wakes up one morning and has the tattoo on her cheek...

Oh, *that's* what's wrong with the face

[rowyn]

I kept thinking the nose had come out too wide -- but it's not so much the nose as that there's too much space between the eyes. Whoops.

I like your story idea! That has a lot of potential. Since you're not working on the Zippo story anymore (well, that I know of) maybe you could do that instead? *perks hopefully* :)

Re: Oh, *that's* what's wrong with the face

[the-vulture.livejournal.com]

Actually, the face isn't too wide; the eyes are too big. You should be able to fit roughly four and a half eye widths across the face. The eyes should be placed one eye width apart (which you've done). If you drop a vertical line from the pupils, they should touch the corners of a relaxed mouth (on a full frontal view). The rest of the facial proportions seem pretty close, though. If you want, the next you're up in my neck of the woods, I can show you a few pointers on drawing faces. It's the least I can do for you after you taught me how to braid my hair.

As for Olivia, I prefer her Heavy Metal Magazine covers, though the 'Let Them Eat Cheesecake' book was pleasant to browse.

[makovette.livejournal.com]

Does the world really need one more cute naked chick?

The world certainly doesn't need any fewer! ;-)

CYa!
Mako
Nakid Chick Fan

[rowyn]

All right, it's hard to argue with that logic. >:)

[oceansedge.livejournal.com]

She is lovely :)
And no... there's no such thing as too much cheesecake :)

[rowyn]

Thank you. :) I have a couple more cheesecake-ish sketches done -- I may paint up one of them and post it, too. Depends how ambitious I get. :)

[detroitfather.livejournal.com]

I have that book.

I am interested in pinups, but they seem a bit on the artificial side in many cases. Partly, I think this is because the backgrounds are often absent, and in the sort of painting I am most interested in making, the backgrounds are usually quite involved.

One reason I don't buy more pinup books is because the great number of excellent ones out there (a few hundred at least, in the Bud Plant catalog) immobilizes me. I can't get them all, so somehow, I end up not getting any.

A *bit* artificial?

[rowyn]

G'wan, get that book out and find one -- just one! -- picture in there that doesn't look posed-for-the-camera. :D In the rare case where the model isn't obviously setting herself up for the shot, the attire clearly is. ;) None of these could be mistaken for a person going about her everyday life.

One of my first comments to Lut, as I was flipping through the book, was, "Wow. She's made a career of not doing backgrounds". Her early works do have some elaborate backgrounds, but the rest of it certainly doesn't. I wonder if this is influenced by photography -- photographers often use very plain backgrounds, too.

I know what you mean about being paralyzed in the face of too many choices. There are quite a few things I've never bought because I couldn't decide on the particular *one* to get.

Re: A *bit* artificial?

[detroitfather.livejournal.com]

C'mon ... what about page 67? That's a scene that has to be repeated (globally) 2 or 3 hundred times a day ... girl climbing out of gorilla suit with a banana or two posed suggestively nearby ...

But seriously, you are right. The nearest one to natural may be on page 50, the woman looking out a window, past curtains.

I think the main reason behind the plain backgrounds is really economics. The artist can simply finish more work that way. I have a couple of books of Alberto Vargas, and the rate at which he produced (very good) work was somewhat breathtaking. Then again, most artists' production pace is breathtaking when compared with mine!

Re: A *bit* artificial?

[rowyn]

The woman on page 13 putting on (or possibly taking off) her boots wouldn't be too bad ... except that boots are the last on/first off, and I don't know too many people who walk around in just boots and stockings. :D

It's true that skipping the background is cheaper and easier -- but that's always been true in any art form. I think there must be something about a pinup that makes it acceptable without further context in a way that most styles of painting really aren't. Maybe it's the way the artist is trying to immerse you in the subject, and not the scene. The pin-up is to become a part of your world, not you a part of hers.

Yes, I'm late chiming in on this one.

[kelloggs2066.livejournal.com]

Nice!

I like the play of light off the surfaces, like in the red ribbon of her tattoo and off the surfaces of her clothes.

I also like Mako's logic that more cheesecake is better than less. :)

As to boots and stockings, I must confess to being and admirer of ladies legs. Suggestive and alluring clothing is usually one of two kinds. Either extremely delicate and fragile looking, such that you wonder, "Is that going to fall off...?" and the other kind is one which emphsizes the shape, silhouette and curvature of the body. Boots and stockings are particularly good at emphisizing the shape of the leg. Consider the allure of the fishnet. The interwoven pattern wraps around the leg and shows every little curve in high contrast. That's why they're sexy.

Ummm... Waitaminute... Did just launch into an unwarrented tangent on ladies legs? Oh. Okay, so I'm coloring Beth and Barb's gowns at the moment. Maybe that's what's got me thinking about it.