Quent Cordair Fine Art

The piece is finished, and just in time. I couldn’t be more pleased with the way it turned out. The remaining section of the suit went very smoothly, and it was much easier to get the effect of the wool texture than I had anticipated. Besides finishing the jacket, I painted the highlights and detailed shadows of the hair, and touched up a few areas of the train. I have included two images of the piece with this post: a close-up of the figure and a full shot of the finished piece. There are some color distortions in both images caused by the variations in the dryness of the paint. I will send a better image once I get the transparency back from the photographer, along with some final comments. As usual I welcome any questions or comments about the finished piece, but I cannot promise a response until after the reception on November 6th, as I will be attempting to complete one additional small piece before the show. In the meantime, enjoy the finished painting.

Once again I am breaking with my usual order by painting the legs before the suit coat behind them. This time the reason is purely time related. The high amount of titanium white used to paint the stockings will take much longer to dry than most of the rest of the painting. Hopefully the extra day or two of dry time gained by painting them first will allow me to apply a coat of retouch varnish before I take the piece to the photographer. Seeing the painting this close to completion is really quite exciting. The more the primer coat is covered up by finished work, the more the entire composition seems to fall into place.

Often my favorite part of working on a figurative piece is painting the figure. This is one reason I save it for last. The background details, especially elements like the gravel can get tedious and feel a little like busy work. I think if I were to finish the figure first, it would be a lot harder to stay interested in the rest of the painting. It also makes sense to paint the figure last when it is in the foreground because I can more easily fine-tune the shape, and I don’t have to be concerned about accidentally smudging a finished face with a background color.

As usual, I began the figure by painting the face. In this case I also blocked in the hair at the same time because of the large amount of blending between the shadows on the right side of the face and neck, and the darker tones of the hair. I opted to paint both hands at this point as well since I already had the colors mixed and am up against a rapidly approaching deadline. Otherwise I would have painted the figure’s left hand after finishing the suit because it is in front. I took advantage of the dark color of the suit by painting a dark outline around the foreground hand. This allowed me to control the shape of the hand while providing a small, safe area to blend into when I paint the suit later.

Here is the finished locomotive engine. After the basic colors and geometry were established I wend back in and added reflections and highlights to the painted surfaces. I based much of what I did on observations of reflections and highlights on high gloss automobile paint jobs. Once the painted surfaces of the engine were finished, I proceeded to paint the hardware: handles, headlights, steps, etc. I then added reflections to the windshield. I am still undecided about adding a logo to the front of the train. I have designed several that I really like, but will wait until the figure is finished to decide if a logo would be too distracting so close to the figure’s face.

Also in this image I have re-painted the sky to cover up the areas where the sketch was showing through. This allowed me to fine tune the outline of the engine. I touched up several areas on the railroad ties, the gravel and the rail as well. At this point all that remains is to paint the figure. I am beginning to feel a little pressed for time with the reception coming up on November sixth. In addition to painting the figure, I still need time for the paint to dry, a coat of retouch varnish, and a trip to the photographer before I ship the painting to the gallery.

The background is finished, and I must admit I love it. One or two areas will need a little attention later, specifically the sky. As the paint dried a little of the sketch began to show through. In the last post I mentioned something about detail adding context to an image. In this step there is a good example. The rugged landscape, the rough, weathered ties, and the gravel all make the shiny, polished rail stand out and seem important by comparison. Having said that, I will offer this word of caution to any aspiring painters out there…..think carefully about your attention span before designing a composition in which the entire foreground is gravel. And try to remember to blink occasionally while painting it.