painting the polonaise.

Unfortunately this has now been christened the Loo-Loo dress. Thank you Jenny - somethings are best shared very carefully. You can probably guess where she had used this fabric.  The paintings and illustrations for this have taken longer than initially planned. Glue dresses, inch paintings, 1950s ball gowns and even an extremely beautifully indecent  1770s dress have got in the way. These all turned out to be related so things seem pretty cyclic at the present but they will have wait  their turn for glory.
  This is the story of creating illustrations for the en ferreau/ polonaise robe made and documented earlier this month. These mini costumes have charm and personality but only come to life when on display (rare) so this is a way of recording them and giving them  a kind of context.

 For this one the process began with observation, isolating details and exploring approaches, sorting out colours ( yes, the dress is white but that doesn't mean the shadows are grey and it also reflects colours from its surroundings.) The back - the stitched seams and  pleats- was the most fun to do.  Different view points were tried and the dress was 'imagined' onto various figures trying to sort out which aspects of the dress I wanted to display. Various standing poses seemed to work but felt a little wooden so I  decided on a seated figure, stealing the face and pose from Raeburn's portrait. This lady has a clear gaze, straight at us, but the body is twisted away  which shows details of the dress  and makes for more interesting shadows. Unfortunately it isn't full length so more imagining and observation work was required. Poor Gwen was removed from her stand and used to pose the dress so that I had an idea of the bulk and shapes made the robe and petticoat.
The following images show the stages of building the picture. Firstly in light sketchy pencil and then in increasingly heavy layers of watercolour. This isn't the best paper,  it doesn't hold the water or colour well as I would wish and will buckle if soaked, so a gently gently approach was required.

Apologies for the different light levels but the layers and gradual adding of depth and detail such as pattern and shadows should be clear.  The background makes a great difference, as this became stronger the balance of the whole piece had to be adjusted. Yep, always plan and do the background first but it is not as exciting as doing the cloth. The final piece has its faults and could be pushed further but I quite like the softness and informality of the sketchiness. The central area is my favourite bit-  I wouldn't mind too much if a sneaky cropping fairy attacked and just left me with that.

 Of course the story couldn't be left at that - so a formal portrait based on Thomas  Lawrence's study of Queen Charlotte happened last night. Again seated but instead of trying to show the cotton's matt surface it has become more of a court dress with the sheen and sharper qualities of silk or satins. This is not truly a watercolour, the paint is heavier, more opaque, borrowing techniques from acrylics and gouache. The key benefit was that this was done in one sitting - okay a long sitting, but it was completed in one go! The difference is so emphatic, the first is a  shy, modest young lady caught in a private moment, this is a formidable  character, formal and authoritative.  

  These have been excellent to do- challenging and testing as well as in an odd way liberating. Rules are good, guidelines are better, making it up as you go may be dangerous but it is much more satisfying. Especially when it works.