Welcome to this Art Post. My name is Veronica Huacuja. I’m a plastic artist and an online art teacher. I've some good tips for you, as a painter. Hope you find them helpful.
LET'S LEARN... How to improve our portrait process and make a powerful character using a masterpiece of the Spanish painter, Diego Velázquez (1599-1660), “Pope Innocent X” (1650). We'll do this exercise with freedom, not trying to copy the work itself (which, BTW, it’d be a great training exercise), but to base our work on it.
SOME PREVIOUS THOUGHTS. Velázquez is one of the great masters of portraiture of all times. What called my attention in this piece, among other important topics, is the amazing reflection of the powerful personality of the historical character (with its keen eyes) that the painter must have captured. As we know, Pope Innocent X is famous for his harsh hand using his political power. Whenever is the case, it’s important to get acquainted with the person’s biography when we make its portrait.
To exemplify this, I add the following work:
Title: Cortical Blindness
Artist: Veronica Huacuja
Media: Digital Art
Size: 10,630 x 8,269 px, 300 dpi
Year: 2020
Collection: Portraits
MY EXPERIENCE WHILE MAKING THIS ARTWORK. I made a close-up of Velazquez’s portrait and increased to red the color values. As you can see, I chose a dark brown color for the background to work on it. When I say work on it, I mean that the background color has to be an active part of the work, not to paint it all the way through, but to use it in strategic areas. Here, in the shadows.
So, if the character's eyes were the thing that most affected me in this masterpiece, why don't make this character a blind one? And so I did.
One more thing, “Cortical Blindness” won a “Special Recognition” at the 10th Anniversary Art Exhibition 2020 made by Light Space & Time Online Art Gallery (www.lightspacetime.art)!
LET'S MAKE A MEANINGFUL REFLECTION FROM THE ABOVE. Something we can do throughout our artistic life is to study and practice our skills using the body of art of prominent artists of all times.
Visit any time:
My ART SHOP: https://veronica-huacuja.pixels.com
My BODY OF ART: https://veronica.mx
I offer an ONLINE PAINTING PROGRAM in traditional or digital techniques: https://veronica.mx/online_painting_course
Thank you for reading.
