Spinning a Tale

I have really enjoyed painting larger and am going to do more this size. It just has much more impact visually. It was also fun to creally develop the lighting effect in this painting, light against dark and dark against light to really make the key areas pop.

The spinner woman is  not only busily spinning the freshly sheared wool but also spinning her tale of life in the pioneer times. Every spring the wool would be sheared, collected, cleaned then brought inside and spun into wool to be made into clothing and blankets to keep the families warm during the cold harsh winters. Each piece of yarn that the woman spins holds this tale deep within it... it's woven into the fabric of time.

 Here is a close up of the woman. I had a lot of fun not only developing her warm welcoming and chattery personality but also the moving parts of the wheel as it wound the newly spun wool onto the bobbin.

I hope you have enjoyed watching over the last couple of weeks as her tale has unfolded. Thanks for the company.

Ona

Spinning a Tale WIP 7

I've been busy painting the folds in the apron fabric over the last few days. I'm a bit sick of red now (grin). I decided to use red for the apron as it will provide a good contrast to set off the hands. The camera really doesn't like red but I have tried my best in photoshop to get the photo looking as close to the painting as possible. Some of the subtle colours in the glazing have been lost though.

Now I am going to paint the spinning wheel. My husband pointed out to me yesterday that I had missed a vital connection between the big wheel and the smaller bobbin wheel.  Its good to have a technical person in the house. Luckily this should be an easy fix with the help of a magic eraser and some tape:)

Ona

Spinning a Tale WIP 4

I finally finished painting the background section yesterday so today I was able to start working on the woman's face.

When I start painting a portrait I usually begin with the eyes. I guess it helps me to connect with the person. This time though I just knew I had to start with her mouth. Maybe it’s because I needed to hear her telling her tale once again.

I’m still underpinning her features and working on the light and shade on her face. I’ll add the skin tones once I have worked on her eyes, the bridge of her nose and her forehead. I can hear her encouraging me along now :)

Ona

Spinning a Tale WIP 3

It's been slow going weaving this background fabric in watercolour. I've still got a small section to paint but I know from your e mails and messages that so many of you are keen to see the effect so I didn't want to keep you in suspense any longer;)

I love how, when viewed from a distance, it just looks like a simple mottled background. It isn't until you move closer that you begin to see the woven pattern, the sheep and the boy. It's just like when someone is talking. At a distance you can hear the sounds but they are all muffled. It's not till you come closer that you can hear the actual words spoken.

I'm looking forward to the point when I can remove the masking fluid and start on the woman.

Ona

Spinning a Tale WIP1

There is a Pioneer village fairly close to where we live that is an absolute joy to visit. It feels as if you are entering another world as you pass through the reception area. One very hot day last summer Rebecca and I took a friend for a visit and while she was exploring the village we had enormous fun taking photographs and chatting to the volunteers. A couple in particular were wonderful to talk to, the tin man and this spinner woman.

I loved the way the sunlight from the window was creating wonderful atmospheric lighting but it was more than this that drew me to the photo. You might not be able to see from the small jpg but in the photo the spinner woman is not only busily spinning the wool but also  spinning her tale of how in the days of the pioneers sheep would be kept not only for their meat but also their wool. Every spring the wool would be sheared, collected, cleaned then brought inside and spun into wool to be made into clothing and blankets to keep the families warm during the cold harsh winters.

I thought it would be interesting to tell at least part of this woman's tale in my painting.

I am hoping to keep the lighting effect similar to the photo but to replace the background with a woolen blanket. In this blanket  I hope to creat suggestions of some of the sheep whose wool made it and a boy who is collecting the freshly sheared wool to take to his mother.

It's hard to imagine at this outline stage but I hope you can, at least begin to get the idea of what I am striving for. I just need to decide on the final crop.

I thought you might like to see the different versions that I am pondering over. Its amazing how by changing the crop you can alter the  emphasis of the whole painting. It's really worth exploring different possibilities before deciding on your final outline because, as you hopefully can see below, different crops can really change the emphasis in the message you are conveying.

The first crop I created is only slightly cropped in from my original drawing. I like the fact that it sets the scene and includes the spinning wheel as well as the woman  but I am a little concerned that her expression will be lost as it will be only a small section of the painting.

The second crop focuses more on the process of her spinning the wool but in cropping the spinning wheel becomes rather disjointed.

The third crop really focuses in on her face and hands. I love the fact that you can really see her expression but the spinning, apart from in  the very bottom section of the painting, is basically lost.

I thought about what I liked and didn't like about each of the above and then created the final crop below.  By cropping in slightly more from the first idea the expression on her face increases in importance but at the same time the act of spinning the wool as well as the story she is telling has its place too because the spinning wheel is still largely intact.

I've also adjusted the transparency of the background on this final crop to help give you more of an idea of the kind of effect I would like to create. I want the story she is telling to be almost as if it is woven into the fabric of time.

 I can now start drawing it out on the watercolour paper. I am planning to paint this quite big so will be drawing it out approximately 34 inches high by 25 inches wide:)

Ona