DESIGN BLOG
Thoughts
&
Musings
Bark Painting No. 6
"Bark Painting #6" by Nathalie Tierce
This painting that is the sixth in a series I've been working on called "Bark Paintings". This time, however, the result is a departure from the others.
Using textures I acquire through taking pictures of bark, I use those digital samples like brushes to create imagery, fine tuning shape, color and line with smaller digital brushes.
This is one of my photographs taken of a tree's surface that I extract texture samples from and use repeatedly. As I develop it, I paint into the forms giving more precise detail and color
Up till now, the forms within the paintings, although full of detail, were very subjective. Some viewers saw animals, architectural detail, it really depended on who was looking. The overall subject matter was open to interpretation.
"Bark Painting #5" Nathalie Tierce
While working on this piece, a narrative began to in my mind as I was painting it over many weeks. Little by little I discovered this particular character that was laid to rest and fossilized becoming one with a tree that had grown above.
As I painted, a face began to emerge that made me think of the Lion from the Wizard of Oz mixed with a strange solider whose elaborate uniform I spent much time embellishing.
The face and persona was really like a search and discovery mission. Sometimes my painting efforts brought me someplace that was just wrong. Without a solid preconceived idea of a title, story or theme I knew when I was getting closer or not.
The interesting part now is starting the next painting from where this one left me off.
Wildlife Painting
"A Cheetah for Maks" by Nathalie Tierce
One of the thrills I get when I start a new commission is I usually discover something new about the subject. Whether it's a place, a person or an abstract that needs to reflect and speak to a specific space where it will be hung, there's always the learning aspect to it.
This time the subject was wildlife, specifically a cheetah. In my mind I roughly had an image of what one looked like. As I started to study the subject I realized I had melded a leopard and cheetah into one animal.
In the excitement of wanting to get started; I jumped in and began a sketch of what I quickly found out was a leopard (as seen below).
"Leopard" sketch by Nathalie Tierce
Research and preliminary drawings are a crucial part of the process when I'm beginning a project so all is not lost when something like this happens. Outside of making sure that the details of the subject are correct (like getting the right species!) a quick painting like this is a handy guide for determining the mood, palette and style. In this case, a more restrained color range was chosen in the end which created focus on the cheetah's lovely pattern.