Quent Cordair Fine Art

In this visit to the Artist’s Studio, I’ll be taking you through the creation of a little figure painting titled ‘Butterfly’. This piece was done for a show on realism, and was painted under a pretty short deadline. I wanted to do something relatively simple, and as I’m always fond of compositions which juxtapose the organic structure and beauty of the female figure with the completely different, austere, geometrical beauty of architectural elements, I decided to run with that.

As always, I started off with a detailed drawing of the figure. I’m working from several different photographs taken with slightly different exposures and from slightly different angles to give myself as much information to work from as possible in the absence of a live model. The drawing is done to scale, though slightly smaller than the final painting. Once it was finished, I had it blown up to full size, and then transferred it to the 24X24 inch canvas using an oil transfer. If you’re curious about the oil transfer process, please write in to the Artist’s Studio and I will be happy to elaborate in as much detail as you can handle!

When painting figures, I like to start with the face. It’s a complex feature which usually contains just about every variation of skin tones that will be present in the painting…and it sets the tone for the rest of the piece. It also allows me to connect a little better with the figure as opposed to painting a headless body first. The technique I’m using here involves painting each separate form on the face in one pass, applying as close to the final local color as possible as I move across each curved surface. It involves vary little blending on the canvas, although I do have to go back into an area occasionally to bring up a highlight or adjust the chroma (intensity) of the colors. (Again, I’d be happy to elaborate on this technique, it’s pros and cons etc. if anyone is interested.) Obviously, this technique requires an accurate drawing, and makes large changes far more difficult to make on the fly…but it does have its many advantages. One such advantage is that I can start and stop work if I need to. For example, this is where I had to leave the face after the first full day of work:

Here is the finished face. As you can see, I was able to pick up where I left off without any visible seam between the different days work, even though the paint from the first session was completely dry before I started the second.

I would love for this to be more of a two way discussion than just my running commentary. So if you do have questions or comments, even if you would like to remain anonymous, please write in. Let me know what you would like to hear more about.

Since the figure’s right arm overlaps all of the remaining drapery, I opted to save it for last. Over two long work days I painted the rest of the robe. It turned out to be a fun little exercise in value, since only a few areas are actually being lit by the main light source, and even those are nowhere near as bright as the small section directly under it. Also, because the fabric is white, and there is a lot of reflected light on the shadow side of the figure, even the darkest areas of the dress were much lighter in value than hair, the skin tones or the soon-to-be-painted background. So, all of the modeling of the form had to be accomplished with only a small range of values.

The right arm provided a similar challenge. Only a small section of the hand is in the light, and the overall values had to stay between those of the red scarf and the white dress. I am particularly pleased with the way the interaction between the right hand and thigh and the drapery lends some real solidity to the form.

I wanted to do something completely different with the background for this painting. As I mentioned at the beginning of this studio installment, I didn’t have anything in particular in mind for this composition. But as the figure began to take shape, the lighting increasingly suggested a nighttime scene. The week before I finished the figure, Sara and I visited a local gallery that has a lovely Koi pond in its courtyard. Sara suggested something like that would make a nice background for the painting. I decided to combine the two. The first step was to give the figure something to stand on. I was planning on putting lily pads in the pond, and I always love a bit of concrete in a painting, so again…I decided to combine the two ideas and paint a sort of concrete lily pad. Since I had no reference material for anything in the background other than a few photos of lily pads I found online, the concrete pad took a little fussing with before I was happy with it.

Next I decided to carefully block in some general colors for the sky, the silhouetted trees and the water. I also added a couple of skyscrapers off in the distance. I’ve had several people comment that the buildings seem out of place in this composition, but I disagree. I like the combination of the manmade architecture of the buildings and the concrete pad, and the natural elements of the pond and trees. Incidentally, this photo is a terrible representation of the color balance in the painting. The high contrast and the varying states of dryness and glossiness of the paint really gave my camera a hard time.

After the blocked in colors had dried a little, I went back and added some subtle detail to the water, a huge number of stars, and lights in the buildings. I painted the lily pads and then blocked in the silhouettes of the plants in the foreground. Again, this was all being done with really no reference material at all, so I spent a lot of time tweaking shapes and colors until things started to look right.

Once again, I allowed the background to dry, then I went in and further refined the shapes of trees, lily pads and reflections in the water. I added a few highlights in a couple of areas and some detail to a few of the foreground grasses and flowers that seemed as though they might fall in the light. Finally, I added some firefly lights in the trees and bushes across the pond.

In reference to the main light illuminating the figure, the stars, the fireflies and the distant city lights, I decided to call the painting ‘Night Light’. This image is a professional scan made after the painting had been allowed to dry and given a coat of varnish.

By now I also have final images and titles for the other two paintings in the group.
‘Liberty’

And ‘The Poet’.

So there you have it: three, very different paintings from start to finish. I am really happy with the way each of them turned out, but I have to admit that even though it started out as more of an experiment than the other two, ‘Night Light’ ended up being my favorite. From the beginning, I really liked the pose and the lighting, and I think the nighttime scenery added a really wonderful mood as well as a lot of contrast and visual depth to the composition.

I started these three paintings having just moved into a new studio space in Salt Lake City, UT. However, since finishing work on ‘Night Light’ and writing this studio step, I have moved into yet another new space in Los Alamos, NM. Before leaving, however, I was able to get some incredible scrap for a few new paintings. So check back in a few weeks for a new installment of the Artist’s Studio. In the mean time, I welcome any comments or questions on these three pieces or on art in general.

Thanks for reading!

When we last left the ‘Gift’ painting, it was not much more than a head, an arm, and some knees. Not only has the title of the piece changed, but so has the content! From the get-go, this composition has been, ummm, up in the air. The scrap, a result of a photo-shoot for the Liberty painting, singled out simply because I was drawn to the pose and the lighting. Now that the other two paintings in this series are complete, lets follow this one through its process, and see what results!

I started working on the drapery…specifically with the red silk scarf around the figure’s shoulders…

With ‘Liberty’ completed, I decided to focus on the ‘Poet’ composition for a while. First I decided to tackle the right leg, the largest section of skin in any of the three paintings, and the left foot. Not so long ago, completing this amount of work in one big push would have been a real challenge. But, with the color string technique getting to be more comfortable, and having spent so much time painting flesh-tones over the past few weeks, the whole thing went very smoothly.

After the organic forms of the drapery and figure, the notebook was a relaxing change of pace. Strangely enough, another power outage in the studio caused the job to stretch over two days, but with little, if any consequence other than lost time. I was also able to finish a small section of the dress on the second day, while I had all the colors ready to go on my palette.
What turned out to be the biggest challenge of the painting by far was the hand holding the book. It could have just been an off day, but getting the transition between the light on the fingertips and the upper arm and the cast shadow from the book was a real trick.

The remaining section of the dress took another two days to complete. It’s not completely obvious in these images, but there are some subtle differences in the colors between areas of the fabric touching flesh and areas of the same value that just happen to be in cast shadow. Once I realized what was causing the differences, work sped up considerably, proving that analyzing and understanding what you are painting is just as important as being able to copy what you see in front of you. Just looking at the finished painting, one may never notice why, but the fabric will appear lighter and less opaque than if it were painted all in one string of colors.

I decided that painting the wall and especially the floor, with its subtle drop off in light and crazy shadow pattern, would be considerably easier if I did it before the stool was finished. Not only would I not have to be so careful about accidentally painting outside of the lines, but the changes in value of the wood wouldn’t interfere with my color decisions as I jumped between little areas. Again, there are two separate sets of color at work here: one in the areas receiving warmer light from the main light source and one for the cooler areas in the cast shadows. This is really common in cast shadow situations, and it is really amazing how much more convincing a shadow is when is isn’t simply painted in a darker value of the same hue as the surrounding areas of light.

And finally the figure has something to lean against. I think she looks far more comfortable.

Now for some real fun. I seem to love providing my figures with a vast backdrop of giant buildings and dramatic skies. It’s certainly a view I would love to have from my windows. This time I wanted to add the deep oranges and reds of a sunset to play off of the orange and red scarf, and to darken the color scheme to really allow the figure to stand out. Yes, this does most certainly imply that the main light source in the fore-ground is an artificial, indoor light. This is actually a good thing, since the drop off in the intensity of the light from where it is closest to the figure, near her face, to where it hits her legs and feet is far too drastic to be natural light. I drew off of photos of several large cities including New York, Chicago and Beijing for the coloring and lighting, and then had a lot of fun coming up with my own building designs. The resulting contrast between the figure and the background, especially the bright white of blank pages of the notebook waiting to be filled and the dark silhouettes of the skyscrapers really draws attention to the book…to the creating of something out of nothing through the careful choosing of just the right words.

Wow. What a difference a few days make at this pace. I am WAY behind. To begin with, the ‘Liberty painting is completely finished, varnished, photographed, has a frame ordered, a crate built, and is ready to ship! I said the background for this one would be simple…and so it is. In fact, there really is no background at all other than the shadow being cast by the figure. As I mentioned earlier on, I wanted to approach this composition more like a sculptor than a painter, but there is one inescapable difference (other than the whole two vs. three dimensions thing) which is that the viewer of a painting is expecting a background and it’s lack gives a sense of austerity and mystery. It makes the figure itself more important than its relationship to its environment.

I haven’t settled on a title for this painting just yet…and I need a little time to consider it. This is often a sticking point for me, but this one is particularly difficult. While the theme is very general and spans the breadth of human civilization and civilization, I want to avoid any specific entanglements with this decades political events. I am a philosophical painter, but not a political one. So I’m going to take my time, and get the title right. In the mean time, enjoy the final image:

I’ve also been making headway on the other two paintings. The Poet painting has benefitted from the completion of the pencil wielding hand, one knee and the bright orange and red accent draperies of it’s costume:

The ‘Gift ‘ painting also has a few updates, mostly in the arms-and-legs category. This photo does no justice to the work, which I am actually pretty proud of. The foot, which looks crazy in this photo, turned out great. The model, having stood/crouched in this position for some minutes, and the effects of blood flow being pushed back in the capillaries of the toes was fairly obvious, and fun to paint. The flesh tones look dark, but once the surrounding drapery is in place to give some context, and a better photo is taken, I think it will speak for itself.