#resolvedwork

[courtneyrobertsart]

Resolved piece

168cm x 59cm

I was so happy when I was finally able to hang my work. I asked for help from the technician and we decided the best way to hang it was to use mirror plates so the boards would be secure to the wall. At first we were only going to use two on the top board and just have the boards screwed together but I thought it was best to be safe and have the mirror plates on the bottom board too just in case and to make sure that the whole piece was flush to the wall. We weren’t sure whether to not screw the boards together but again I thought it was better to be safe and the boards would be fitted together as perfect as could be when the nut and bolt held them together. 

One obstacle I had to face was the fact my painting was still wet due to it being oil paint so when hanging it we had to make sure that we didn’t smudge it which was quite hard as there is oil paint down the side where the arms go into it. We managed to do this without smudging it thankfully. 

I had to repaint my wall to make it look nicer and neater to really allow my piece to stand out and I’m glad that I did this as it wouldn't have looked as good had I not painted it. I also decided to paint the mirror plates white so they didn’t stand out as much next to the painting which again I’m happy I decided to do as I think without it they would’ve stood out too much. 

Once my painting was up I needed to finish it. This included making sure the legs matched up, they were slightly off but due to the paint still being wet I was able to sort it out to match the lines up properly. I also went around the edges of the board and painted it green which I’m really glad I did as I think it really finished the piece off. It didn’t look really nice before I painted it green as there were different marks from where I had moved the board throughout painting it. 

Overall, I really enjoyed the experience of painting this piece, and I really feel that it is at the best of my ability and it incorporates all of my ideas within it. 

[courtneyrobertsart]

Resolved work - close ups

[courtneyrobertsart]

Resolved piece - finished

I had a problem with the green background as I ran out of green paint when I was 3/4 of the way done so I had to get another green and couldn’t manage to create the same green as before. Rather than keep trying I decided to just change the shade of green and I actually preferred this one, it is a lot brighter than the one I had previously and it really brings the painting together more so it worked out in the end which I’m really happy with. 

I’m proud of how these pieces have turned out and I really don’t think I’d change anything about them. I think it really incorporates my idea of body positivity and embracing the female form throughout it. I genuinely think it is to the highest standard I could possibly do.

The one thing that I was worried about was if the lines would match up for the legs but I won’t know that fully until I screw them together so I am hoping that it works out. 

[courtneyrobertsart]

Painting my resolved piece - legs

The second piece was a lot more straight forward as there wasn’t as many lines to do and it was a lot more blocky than the other. This piece isn’t as strong on its own whereas the first could be a stand alone piece, however that isn’t something I am worried about as it’s apart of a bigger piece and when they are next to each other it makes it worthwhile. 

[courtneyrobertsart]

Painting my resolved piece - upper body

As I already had the different shapes already mapped out I was able to just start painting, amusingly it was like a paint my numbers following the key. 

My key was 

Lightest - light orange 

Light - orange 

Medium - light blue 

Dark - blue

Darkest - dark blue 

Then my other colours for their specific areas which were a range of pinks, whites and then eventually green. 

I followed the reference image to see where the different colours would go on my drawing which was really straight forward. It was quite hard making sure the colours didn’t go into each other and was fiddly when it came to adding the white stretch marks as the paint surrounding them was wet and I came to the same issue when it came to adding the red lines for the imprints. The necklace I originally thought would work well in white but after I painted the underwear and the upper body I felt that it didn’t work, so after thinking about it for a while I thought pink might work really well so I painted over the white. I think it works much better now that I’ve changed it as it ties in with the pink underwear more now so it helps balance the piece. Trying to get it done in time for the hand in was my biggest worry as I’m quite a slow painter but the first half came together quite well and easily and the second half hasn’t got as many lines to be wary of so it should come together easier than this so I’m hopeful. I’m really pleased with this half and happy with the outcome, I hope that the background pulls it altogether and helps it stand out even more. 

[courtneyrobertsart]

Deciding on my colour palette

I wasn’t 100% on what colours I wanted to use for my final piece and spent quite a while talking about it with my flatmates but in the end I felt that it would be good to go with blue and orange as my main colours as it’s a colour palette I’m comfortable with and I know that it has worked on my other pieces really well. I also like the brightness of these colours and that’s something I wanted to show throughout my work rather than using dull or dark colours. When I was thinking about the other colours I wanted to incorporate in my work I knew I wanted to use white for my stretch marks to make them stand out and for the clothing imprints I wanted to use red as they are generally dark on the body, and I felt that the red would help them stand out too. When it came to the underwear I wasn’t sure what colour would work with the colours I currently had. After a lot of thought I decided to go with pink as it was close to red and it felt like the right move. In the image I am wearing a necklace which I originally thought would look best in white but decided in the end it would look better in pink as it would help tie in with the pink underwear. For the background I felt that a bright green would work really well as it had in my other pieces.

[courtneyrobertsart]

Drawing my resolved piece

I wasn’t sure how I was going to execute this piece but I felt that the best way was to take my reference picture and print it out on a large scale - the same size I would be drawing it onto the board. I wanted to do this to firstly check that the image would fit onto the board and secondly to map out where all of the different shapes for the shadows and highlights would go. I felt that doing this it would make it easier to paint overall as I would be able to check back to the blown up image to see where this different colours would go without having to write all over my piece which would potentially show through the paint. I’m glad that I did this as it was really hard to get the drawing perfect to paint onto and I feel that without the blown up image I would’ve struggled more, and I didn’t want to spend too much time worrying about this as it is very close to the hand in and I wanted it to be finished before that. 

[courtneyrobertsart]

Working out how to fit my boards together

I asked our technician if he would be able to help me fit the boards together and he helped me drill holes through the bottom of one and the top of the other and we decided to get a nut and bolt to hold them together securely. As the boards are quite flimsy, especially since they have been drilled into now we thought it would be best to take them apart and paint on them first then put them together when I have finished and tighten them up to display the finished work. I realised it would also be a lot easier to transport from different places too. It was very straight forward and has made me excited to start on this piece.