I've been pretty good about posting some of the progress of this particular piece. But this will be the first time I post all my work in progresses at the same time. As you can see, it started with a photograph of a statue. This statue is located in from of the old city hall in Athens. I think the guy is one of the old leaders of Greece, but I'll need confirmation on that (anyone know for sure?).
Once I have the photo shot, I print it out to whatever size I feel works best. In this case I printed it fairly large, because I thought the guy looked large and imposing. After it's printed I start to sketch like crazy. I sketch out several drawings until I'm sure I've brought a little life back to the statue. Sometimes I get it right in one or two sketches, sometimes it's more like 20 or 30.
I then transfer the sketch to a piece of watercolour paper, and I make sure the transfer hasn't lost any life, to it. I tend to reference my sketches a lot at this point. After I'm happy with the transfer, I start to paint. The painting only takes a few hours, but by this point I've sketched it so many times that I'm fairly familiar with subject.
After the paint dries, I do the part that makes me the most nervous, I rip it. I only get one shot at this, if it goes wrong I have to start from scratch. I choose what to rip out based on two things, the shape of the rip, and what details work best in watercolour versus statue.
After I finish ripping, I frame the piece up, photograph it, and
post it all over the internets.
Later
