FALL FAERIE – FROM SKETCH TO FINISH

Here are my first two “idea” sketches for a painting depicting a “spirit of Fall” as a fairy.

A daughter of a friend of mine posed for the fairy and I took photos for reference.

Next I did a detailed drawing on my gessoed board – the picture is 24×36 inches. I do like to precisely plan my paintings when there is so much detail I want to convey.

This was the first day’s work.

Here it is after day 2 with a bit more detail. I wanted to paint the background around the fairy and work out the complex value patterns.

Working out the flow of her dress was next.

A few more days work…

And it took around three weeks to get to this stage – not quite done.

Finally after a good month or a little longer, the painting is finished! To work in this style requires a great deal of patience, as you might imagine.