SOUTHERN BELLE COMMISSION
So I got pretty excited about this piece after speaking about it together and I may have gone a bit overboard in this presentation but I wanted to show you everything I came up with as I felt there were two distinct directions to go in and I thought they were both worth exploring. I have organized the work I have done for the commission so that you can follow the process I used to create the work using the brief we had discussed over the phone. The main theme I was working with for the artwork is that of rebirth or renewal as suggested by the history of Atlanta and the use of the phoenix in its municipal branding. I also tried to include some parts of our conversation to make it more personal to you and the identity I thought you might be going for, including a strong female figure with a specifically southern character. Let's start by taking a look at the glossary board I created to create representations of what we had talked about:
The first thing I started thinking about was the theme of renewal and resurgence which I assigned to several objects to begin with. The Feathers refer to the idea of the phoenix and the butterflies and caterpillars were meant to symbolize that as well. You will notice that I use both in many of the compositions to follow as I thought they were central to identifying the overall theme. They differ in that the idea of the phoenix is a rebirth of what had preceded it while the butterfly and caterpillar offer the same sort of idea but with a positive change as the outcome of that rebirth which I thought was more in line with the idea of the contemporary culture of Atlanta. I also included several typographic forms of "bless your heart" to cover the southern identity as well as the cherokee rose for a floral element which is the state flower of Georgia.
The next thing I did was come up with a few different background patterns for the work. The first is a butterfly pattern relating back to the renewal and change idea, the second is an abstracted fire pattern that I have used in the past that relates to the idea of the phoenix (especially in combination with the feather worn on the figure) and finally a floral pattern with skull berries that also references transition in terms of human mortality. After I had all of this put together I came up with a couple of different figures, costuming, poses and sizing. Originally we had settled on 50 x 55" composition but I am worried that you will run into some trouble finding glass for framing at that size so I also did some of the same compositions in a 48x60" so you could have that option as well. The imagery doesn't change all that much but it will give the same impact of scale in the space at the same price and you will have no problem finding glass or plexiglass at a 48" width.
As you can see I came up with two costumes, two poses, and then the two sizes to choose from. All of the figures have the feather earings as that is essential to the artwork and the theme we had discussed but I wanted to go a couple of different ways with the other aspects to try and cover a broad range of character in the figure. The two poses are a still expression which is more contemplative and open in nature and the second has the figure licking her lips which is more playful and aggressive than the other. I chose this pose over the other moving forward as I thought it made her look more badass but we could always swap it out with the other if that is your preference. As for the costuming I created a cocktail dress out of the butterfly motif for a more formal vibe and then went the other way entirely and gave her a t-shirt for a more punk vibe which could also have the "god bless" representation on it quite easily. I'll start by showing you the variations of the t-shirt figure next:
These show how the different sizing can make a difference in the readability of the slogan on the shirts but otherwise it is more of a formal decision pictorially as to which form goes best with the other elements in the piece.
The next grouping has the figure holding up a symbolic element and offering it to the viewer of the work. The four on the left are 48x60 and the others are 50x55". I paired the t-shirt design to each object as to what looked best rather than give you three options for every object. I like the idea of her making an offering to the viewer as it creates an intimate space and asks for attention from passers by. I think that these are pretty strong graphically and with the addition of a background pattern could be the finished work.
So this last grouping of the t-shirt figure is to show how the different background patterns look behind the figure in the top row and then I included a couple of more complicated compositions at the end to show how the piece could change by adding objects to the hair and body. Next we will look at similar scenarios but with the cosume of the butterfly cocktail dress.
These groupings are divided again by size with the six on the left at 48x60 and 50x55" on the right. They are again offering objects to the viewer in the same way as the other with the added variation of the "bless your heart" variations as objects as well.
And again, the top row are to show how the figure in this costume relates to the background pattern as well as some more complicated compositions with objects in the figure's hair as well as the hand. The next group of images show how these more maximalist compositions will look when paired with a background pattern as well:
That pretty much covers all of the variations based on the imagery I had come up with. I know it is a lot to look at so feel free to take some time with it and then we can begin to narrow it down to what will be the final composition. The questions we need to answer are which pose do you prefer (tounge in/out), which costume do you prefer, whether hands up or down and if up with what, which pattern for the background, what the final size will be and finally if you prefer the more maximalist compositions with objects in the hair or the simpler versions. If there is a combo or scenario you would like to see that I didn't do just let me know and I can put it together for you. I am also including a size comp with the 48x66 next to the 50x55 so you can get an idea of the difference in the space, the pricing is the same on either. Feel free to give me a call if you want to walk through the imagery together.
SOUTHERN BELLE COMMISSION IN COLOR
Let's start by taking a look at the magnolia pattern I came up with and how it fits with the composition you selected from the last batch of choices. I really like the way the pattern turned out and I think it offers a nice contrast to the simple costuming of the figure you chose. I played around with the scale of the pattern in relation to the figure and went with what I have shown here to keep things simpler moving forward.
Before I show the color comps, I wanted to show you some past works I have completed so you can have an idea of how the color sketch might translate into the finished piece. You have requested that the figure have red hair so I wanted to show you the two variations I have used in the past: the first being a reddish blonde and the second being a much deeper amber color. I prefer to use the strawberry blonde as it has a more translucent quality, allowing the underdrawing to show through more clearly, giving the hair more texture and volume. The amber colored hair is a muck more opaque pigment and doesn't reveal any of the detail in the underdrawing and requires going back in and scratching out highlights to keep it from getting too muddy. You can see the difference in these two samples:
The next grouping of samples are the different color combinations with varying pattern color, tee shirt, hair, and logo colors. If you want to see samples of the different background colors on finished work just let me know, I didn't include any because I didn't want it to be to distracting. Also if there are any other combos you would be interested to see just let me know. I grouped them all by background color with the best 6 of each for you to choose from.
Navy
Cream
Blue
Red
Ochre Or Green
Let me know what you think and if you have any other ideas for color combinations or if you want to see samples of finished works withe the background colors. Once we have the color comp locked down I'll get started on rendering the finished work.
Narrowing it down
It looks like you are leaning towards the banded tee with one of a couple of background options. I put together a grouping with all of the background colors you liked with all of the possible banded tee combos that suited that color. I changed up the blue background and added another form of it with blue and cream like the drawing that was in the space previously because it was more similar to the ochre and green backgrounds you like to have a comparison. I think I covered all the combos that would look good, let me know if you want to see any others. Once you have your top two or three I can do an overlay of the final choices in the space with the photos you gave me to get a better idea of how it will fit into the space. If you are having a tough time choosing and want me to weigh in feel free to ask, I haven't chimed in yet because it seems like you are on the hunt.
Here are the the two tweaks with the light blue you asked for plus one more with the light blue trim on the shirt against an ochre background with amber hair for comparison. A note about the blue feathers: there are certain pigments that are more transparent then others when working with oil pastels which allow for the texture built up in the underdrawing to show through the final layer of color allowing me to use these qualities in the pigment to give objects certain qualities in the finished drawing. With the feathers, it will be pretty important to be able to manipulate the form in this way to make them appear light and give some snap to the flip and curl of their shape which is why I have shown them as a cream color in all of the sketches. Unfortunately, the blues lack that transparent quality and I would be afraid that they would end up looking heavy and dull in the end. Please keep that in mind when evaluating your final choice, I don't think it would be as big of a problem with the ribbing on the trim of the t-shirt, especially contrasted against a navy tee rather than the white.
Ok, once i put these together it got me thinking and I did two more with the light blue trim on the sleeves and added two new background colors. I thought that by going more pastel with the blue trim that opened up two new directions with regards to the background colors to consider. I did one with a pale yellow and another in pink which would help to really make the "bless your" logo on the tee pop in the final work. Sorry to keep giving you more choices but I thought if you liked the way the new trim color worked out you should see it with all the appropriate options.
I put together a six pack with your suggested changes plus a few more for reference. The first is the selection with just the words added, the next has the color of the lips changed to red, the third has lips and words and the fourth has the lips and the words with the heart on the tee shirt changed to orange to see how that affects the balance. I think the added phrase works with or without the red lips but I’m worried that the stark contrast of the red lipstick will throw the visual hierarchy out of balance. It focusses all of the attention on the mouth which was a little more subtle with just the lick and makes the intent of the future seem more aggressive which is cool if that is what you want to go for. I threw in the last three with the orange, ochre, or light blue heart to see how it might balance out with only red around the lips which I think helps it out in those regards. Let me know what you think and I'll get rolling on making the finished piece for you.
