The African Headgear III, 8.5" x 11", Mixed Media on Card.

This is the third piece in my series of paintings and drawings to celebrate the beauty of the African Headgear.

This particular piece all started off without any preliminary drawing, I just decided to go into into it with the pastels used with the broad side.

THE AFRICAN HEADGEAR III, 8.5" x 11", Pastel, Crayons, Coloured pencil and Oil Pastel on Canson Card, 2013

 

 

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Because I started this way, I was left starting off without any accuracy at all and a long process of corrective drawing. But it was quite fun as I enjoyed watching the repair process materialize into a finished product I was satisfied with.

Below are some of the Stage Shot photos I took while working though it.

STAGE 1- That bold start that got me frightened, I thought, what am I doing here? No preliminary drawing, just broad strokes of pastel on the card.

STAGE 2- I blend the broad strokes together, just for some clarity.

STAGE 3- Introduce the darks, this changes everything, but I'm still timid, not sure how this will work out.

STAGE 4- I slow down and keep my focus on correcting the faulty areas, adding more rich smaller strokes of the pastel.

STAGE 5- Here I am a more confident, the corrective drawing helps and slowing down is a reward, as it is often said, "Haste is the Artists' Worst Enemy"

SPECIAL QUOTE

“A portrait can get awfully hot when the artist thinks in terms of flesh and blood, rosy cheeks, lips and ears. This is particularly so if there are cools surrounding the subject such as a blue curtain or blue shirt... don't forget that some of that cool might very well be bouncing into the face and figure”- Harley Brown

The African Wrapper, 14" x 10", Oil on Canvas (The Painting Process)

This piece is one from my series which celebrates African Fashion, with the focus on the African Wrapper.

The African Wrapper I, Oil on Canvas, 1, 2013

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I get really inspired by the colours and designs of African Fabric and the way the garments are worn, when it comes to the wrapper, it is tied in different ways. In this particular piece the model is in the process of tying it. I decided to play the light effects to mainly reveal the textures on the material used for the wrapper.

Stage 1-Taken under tungsten light, it's a bit yellow. But it shows the beginning of the process. This is one of the paintings I approach with the Outside-In Technique. I start with broad washes of lean colour with lots of solvent. I also draw with fluid paint with lots of calligraphic strokes.

I started by working on this piece with light lean washes of oil with plenty of turps, then  towards the end, I introduced more juicy rich strokes of heavy impasto to reveal textures on the wrapper.

Stage 2- A clearer picture of it with lots of drawing and sketch marks. The drawing is corrected as the process continues. There's no real thick colour at this stage.

Stage 3- Here I begin to introduce, thicker colour, you can see the difference on the top right hand corner of where the thick is laid over the thin washes. I thought I was going to leave the washes in some areas but as the process continued, I changed my mind and decided to have it all covered. I'm not sure whether it was a good decision but I feel it was the best for me at the time.

Stage 4- At this stage I feel I have completed the process. I work on the background with thick solid strokes and I also add details to the face and more textures to the wrapper.

SPECIAL QUOTE
"The painting process goes backward and forward, cancel and counter, scrape and add, decision and indecision, sweat and blood, courage and fear.....and these things seldom show up in the completed piece...phew! -Adebanji Alade

AN EXPERIMENT WITH PASTEL /COLOURED PENCIL

Recently I was passing by this shop in Chelsea, it had these model manikins wearing clothes for sale. I was particularly interested in the light that fell on this models face and how it portrayed the feminine strength in her. I took some pictures and then I went on to work on it, attacking it a bit emotionally with wild strokes and colours with pastel and coloured pencil, the result was quite fascinating. I have titled it "Feminine Strength".