Beginning Sketch --> Final Painting

Beginning Sketch --> Final Painting

Ana Bagayan’s latest show: “Orphan” is set to open Saturday at the renowned Billy Shire Fine Arts. We’ve been keeping tabs on the fabulous Ana and her superfine works. Ana has been working non-stop since we last saw her at Baby Tattooville to get ready for this show and thankfully she worked in some time to do a “creative process” on her latest work “Promethius“. This gorgeous 12″ x 23” oil on wood made it’s debut at Copro Nason’sSuperschool” group show this past weekend (covered). Enjoy Ana’s entire creative process after the jump.

1. First I either draw directly or transfer the drawing onto the raw surface of the wood. Most transfer papers don’t stick to wood so I use the messy method of covering the back of the drawing with condensed charcoal and imprinting the image by redrawing it. Then I coat the panel with two to three layers of clear gesso and sand the surface until perfectly smooth.

2. The face is the most important part of my paintings and I must finish it before I can move on to the background or any other element. I can spend days painting the background first, but if the face does not come out well in the end, the whole painting looks off to me. I paint the eyes and the dark shadow shapes first, then build up the lights. I have a video of the construction of a face on my blog.

3. At this point, the face isn’t fully finished, but I can tell what it will look like and I can move on to the hair.

4. I originally wanted a red bow with a white background, but I changed my mind. My paintings never turn out how I originally imagined them. I’ve long given up on having a set color palette in mind before starting a painting. It’s more exciting to let the painting unveil itself to me as it progresses.

5. I painted in the background around the edges of the head and ribbon while the paint is still wet so the colors could be blended and softened. I have repainted the lips, almost completely, about three times. Also added a hint of a bite.

6. The background color also has gone through three layers. Once the background is dry, I go back to the face, hair, and ribbon and tighten everything and add final details.

Finally its done. Here’s an up close shot.

Discuss Ana Bagayan here.
Discuss her upcoming show here.