This is truly my favorite class I've taken so far. It is a graduate level class but I asked the teach for an exception and was given one and joined the two other grad students in this studio class. We met once a week for four hours. We learned the basics of scenic painting. The first few weeks were about getting used to the tools and techniques and just learning to be free and trust ourselves and not get lost in perfection.
The picture above was the first of our two big projects. We first made a faux finish using marbling techniques and then had to create the deer trompe l’oeil. It was incredible to see how the figure emerged as I basically sculpted it out of shadows and highlights. At first when our teacher told us about this project I thought it would go horribly. I was not confident in my ability to paint it at all, especially with the animal figure. But in the end I proved myself wrong. I surpassed my own expectations by far.
The picture above shows my chosen image and the one below is my scaled up recreation. The original painting was one of my grandfather's and I used watercolor scenic painting techniques to create a 5x5' version of it. I wanted to challenge myself with color mixing because I felt that was one of my weaknesses. Using a different medium obviously results in slightly different looks but I'm so proud of how it ended up.
The most important thing I learned from this class is the importance of taking a step back. Because scenic painters are working on such a large scale, it's easy to get caught up on one little section of the canvas, on one small detail, and then get lost. It's easy to lose sight of the whole piece. Our teacher taught us to stand back and look at the piece from far away every so often in order to not get lost. She also told us to squint when looking at our pieces. It blurs those little details and allows you to see the whole picture. It's something I know I'll be able to use, not only in any scenic painting I do, but in any design work I do in the future.
