Thursday, January 31, 2008

Illustration Friday - Tales & Legends


My subject for this week's IF topic, Tales & Legends, is Esther. She was a real person, a heroine whose actions saved the Jews living in exile. Her inspiring story is found in the Old Testament of the Bible in the book of Esther.

One of my goals is to learn how to draw & paint people. This is only my second people painting and I purposely did not labor over it too much. So PLEASE be kind. I used a 5x7 clayboard that I prepared with a mixture of gesso & aqua acrylic. Most of the painting is done with Liquitex heavy body acrylics, but I did use some watercolor pencil for a little detail work.

I worked from my imagination and a collection of photos. Her eyes were inspired by a 60's photo of Sophia Loren.
Esther ended up looking older than I planned. I also hoped to make her more beautiful. I was thinking of her as an innocent young woman who went through a year of preparations before she was presented to the king for his approval. Esther was so favored that she was chosen to be queen.

I enjoyed this topic. I also considered Joan of Arc for my subject and researched her story, too. Now I have material to work from later when I have more time.

Thanks for looking as I learn.

3 comments:

Lianne said...

I think you did a great job for your 2nd people painting attempt. I really love the color choices; there's a tranquility to her portrait that is soothing.

I look forward to your Joan of Arc :)

Images with Personality said...

Great piece. I agree with the previous comment that your choice of color creates a feeling of serenity.It's quite good for only your second attempt at portrait painting.You've portrayed Esther as a vision of hope.

Leah said...

you did a fabulous job!!! keep it up!