Pinocchios

I am starting two paintings. One another Gem and the second my "Pinocchios". Back to our Italy trip for this one. 

I always start with a very detailed drawing as you see here. One, because I love to draw and two, so I can really give all my attention to the painting process once I start. I start with the background of a crumbly concrete street.

"Pinocchios",  14" x 16"
©Carmella Tuliszewski  2013

I first paint in a liquid mask to protect the areas not part of the background. You see here my tools of choice for applying the mask, which is a liquid latex, and dries very quickly. I first dip the brush in a little liquid detergent then in the masking fluid. This protects the brush and makes application a little easier.

You see my handmade color charts ready to go but more about that later. Now to finish the background.

The background is in and the mask is removed. I am not totally finished with the background but it's enough to move onto the figures and return to tweek. I never use black for forming or shadows but blend two complementary colors, in this case, Cadium Orange and Ultramarine Blue for this neutral backdrop. I anticipate this making the reds and greens to come on the figures really pop.

A good days work starting the color and style for my Pinocchios. At this point I can see where I need to adjust color as in warming up the wood color on the limbs and glazing a little orange over the red to brighten it up. Not sure about that green right now-wow-am I picky! 

I have been posting real time progressions of "Pinocchios" on my FB Fan Page.  Please stop by to visit and like this page by clicking the FB badge to the right of this post.