Valentino Rossi painting – Day 3
Here’s where I was up to on this painting when I left it on Sunday.
The next stage is to continue defining the forms by adding more detail. I don’t want all the painting to end up with the same level of detail. The focal areas (the front of the fairing and the helmet) should have the most detail. The idea is to pull those areas into focus without leaving behind the rest of the painting completely. The varying levels of detail are just one of the ways in which the painting will have variation across the design. Variation in detail, edges, colour temperature, tone, tonal shapes all create interest for the eye.
I’ve started cutting out the numbers on the front of the fairing, and have added some halftones of blue on his right arm. The helmet looks good at the moment, but unfortunately his helmet had a rather complicated design on it at this time. Trying to convey that design whilst sticking to the form principle (making sure the light is falling on it correctly) and using expressive brushstrokes will be a challenge.
The numbers look pretty good, but I’m not happy with his helmet yet. His left forearm isn’t quite happening for me either. His right arm is nice and I like the way the top edges are lost against the background. I have to decide how much detail to put into all the little sponsors’ decals. Decisions, decisions.
This is where I’ve left it for today – probably about 4 hours work gone into this today. I need to do some studies on the kerb I think, the shadow of the bike on the kerb is not reading the way I want it to. Maybe the perspective is off or something. However I think the next step is to put in the background, doing that will help me to judge how much more detail to put into the subject.
