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

African Headgear III, 16" x 20", Oil Base Pencil/Charcoal Dust

This makes number 3 in my current Afro Headgear series.



The model here is my great friend Esta who I have used many times in my Afro Series too.

I have used Charcoal dust for the broad tones and Compressed Charcoal for the darker tones. Then I used Oil base pencils for the details and lines on Norfolk Cartridge paper.

AFRO HEADGEAR II, 12" x 16", Mixed Media on Pastel Paper, 2009 (SOLD)

This is makes number 2 in my current series of African Headgears.



I'm exploring this series from all angles and will use all forms of media to get my message across, even wax and possibly clay.

For this piece, I had as my model a lovely lady I met at a friends wedding. She naturally took this pose and that was it!




I have used charcoal dust, ink washes, acrylic washes, white ink and oil base pencil to produce this piece on a slightly warm grey pastel paper.

AFRO HEADGEAR I, 10" x 8", oil sketch on canvas board, 2009

This is a new series I am embarking upon. It is all about the beauty, elegance and variety of African Headgears. There are so many different types from different cultures and countries in the rich continent of Africa and I will be using the medium of drawing, painting and sculpture to get this series going.



My first series just takes me out of the blocks. The model is my cousins wife. On the day of her daughters naming ceremony she was decked with "asho oke"- a very traditional garment worn by Yoruba's from Nigeria on special occasions. But what attracted me most was her "gele" (head gear/head tie) it had a sort of hanging feel to it at the back and that's where I concentrated most of my heavy textures on.

To execute this piece I have used an oil wash for skin and mostly quick applications oil paint in impasto for the textures of the head gear.