Trina's page of Blogginess: The Completed "Wallace" Oil Painting!!

"Wallace"
2017
oil on canvas
36" x 36"

I finished my Enormous Wallace Head painting!

This painting has been so much fun to work on, and I'm really amazed at how much I learned from it. I realized early on that it's so much different from any of the other paintings that I've done. Most of my paintings/compositions are much more structured. I often have to take a lot of time measuring and sketching the image on the canvas before putting any paint on it.

This one was so much different. When I looked back at the progression of this painting I realized that I had barely sketched anything at all. Just a very basic outline of Wallace's head. I suppose I could have been a lot more careful and precise with it, but I enjoyed how much more loose this process felt.

One of the things I learned the most about was color and temperature. I've always had a hard time with both, and this one was all about color and temperature. Dean helped me a lot with mixing colors and getting them just right.

For my own notes:

The shadow colors:

warm tones: 2 parts blue to one part orange, mixed with white
cool tones: yellow ochre mixed with a tiny bit of black, then mixed with white

During my last session, I worked on just a few things:

I cooled down the shadows of his chin so that the were softer. I was able to do this with a wash, and it was very effective.

I spent most of the time working on the lettering of Wallace's name on his bandana. I knew it wouldn't be easy, and it did prove to be quite a challenge!

I'm very happy with how this painting turned out, and it was really one of the most enjoyable painting experiences I had. I really did get a chuckle every time I stepped back to look at it.

It was also very fun to have Wallace with me in Dean's studio to model for us. He was patient, and slept a lot as we checked colors up against him. :)

The best thing about this painting is the sizes. It's 36" x 36", which is so enormous for the subject matter. I know the size adds to the "Pop Art" of it, and I'm thrilled with that.