#46 of 100 Creations in 100 Days, a Pregnant Nude created with 1000's of tiny marks

 This picture is the one that has slowed me down from creating a piece a day! It is so complex! And so time-consuming to draw all the tiny marks. I found this photograph in my files of pictures I've taken of friends recently and knew right away I wanted to draw it.  I also, while looking around the studio for something else, had happened upon the face with its penetrating gaze and powerful presence.  I knew right away I needed to combine the two. I chose the colors for the body based on the colors in the photograph of the face and began working to establish the volume of the belly based on the direction of the marks and the value of the hues I chose. 

The first time I fileld in the belly - yes, all of it - I realized the directions of my marks were not effective in creating the sense of volume I wanted. Thanfully I discovered I could "erase" the gel pen by using a little bit of water to wash it off.  I got enough off that the marks underneath don't show, though they do still leave signs of their presence.

Next I began to try to get the darkest values established.  I quickly realized I don't have any gel pens, especially not in this color range, that were dark enough in value.  I decided to use watercolor inks to establish a dark value then to use a non-opaque gel pen to draw marks into the ink.  I thnk the dark is too dark and doesn't read as subtly as I like.  I moved on though because I didn't have an answer for that dilemma.  I figured an answer would come to me as I went on.

It was fun working on the legs. They felt like undulating fields of wheat as I created one in front of the other and established the direction of their movement. The breasts were equally fun to draw with their target-like focus.

In this picture, I've begun to create the form of the arms and have finished the legs and the background.  Now I'm painfully aware that the shadow is simply too dark. I went to AC Moore to get some darker gel pens to try to rectify the situation.  I learned that I already own 20 or so of the opaque gel pens that company sells, and AC Moore doesn't sell other company's gel pens. Stuck.

I decided I didn't have anything to lose, so I put blue into some of the darkest shadows.  I'm pleased that it seems to be working.  I will do it in the rest of them next time I sit down to work on this. I can see other spots where the value isn't working so well yet.  There's plenty to do to make this work, but I'm excited by the process, and am liking the result, even though I can see lots I still need to do. That's OK - it's not easy doing something utterly new and unfamiliar!  I'm learning a lot for the next one, should I decide to do another.  This has been very time-consuming - over 20 hours and counting! It has also been physically taxing as I have to lean over to draw the marks, and after a while, that becomes painful for my back.  Ah! The pain and suffering that go into being an artist!

I have had to alter the way I work, spending only 2-3 hours/day on it rather than the 6-7 I might otherwise do in my excitement to see it finished!  The headache I got on day 2 disabused me of any desire I had to keep going like that!

I hope to finish the piece tomorrow as I have a fair amount of time free for studio work.