Tuesday, December 09, 2008

The Two Dutchmen

So I'm back and, as promised, I have an update with my "end of the year let's see if I can cram more work into my day" ACEO project involving van Gogh and Vermeer. The two pieces I chose for my foray into this mini project were van Gogh's "Irises" and Vermeer's "The Milkmaid".

I chose the van Gogh piece because this was the poster I had hanging in my bedroom for eons when I was a little girl. I loved the image then and I still love it now. The Vermeer piece I chose simply because I love the pure white of the milk that the woman is pouring. Yup. That's really the reason... simple, I know.
I'm just doing little segments of each piece and I've left some things out of each one that are in the original segment that I chose. Just for fun I'm not going to tell you what I left out and we'll see if anyone can figure out what it was that I removed.

Enough babbling, onto the art:

Vermeer- Part 1
Coloured pencil on Mi-Teintes


After doing the initial laydown for each one I took a deep breath and wondered what I had gotten myself into. Oddly enough, despite the intricacy of the van Gogh piece it's been the easier of the two to work on. I suspect that may have something to do with the fact that it's oodles looser than the Vermeer. The other challenge I've run into it that in terms of colour I have no idea if they're like the originals. I'm work from my computer monitor so I'm playing it by ear.
Vermeer- Part 2


Oddly enough, when I started working on both of these I realized I had chosen works with similar colouring. Blues and yellows.
Both artists were taken with that particular colour combination and van Gogh himself had actually seen "The Milkmaid" and, upon seeing it, remarked what a talented artist Vermeer was and that he enjoyed his use of colour. I often wonder what Vermeer would have said about van Gogh's work...

van Gogh- Part 1
Coloured pencil on Mi-Teintes



The van Gogh ACEO will be done by the end of today and then I need to get the Vermeer done so I can start on another 2 pieces. At this point I'm not thrilled with the Vermeer because, quite frankly, I've made it look as though the poor woman is yodelling while pouring the milk. I don't think Vermeer would be impressed.

van Gogh- Part 2


So that's where I'm at so far. I don't know how many of these I'll get done before the month is out but I'm hoping for quite a few. I'm also hoping I can throw in a few other artists to give myself some variety and to get more ideas for projects I'd like to do next year.

Speaking of next year, I'll be doing my end of the year wrap-up next week where I review my 2008 plan and slap myself on the wrists for what I didn't accomplish. Join me in the fun and frivolity, won't you?


4 comments:

Anonymous said...

LOVE that Van Gogh! Also, congrats on the cute new dog. :D

Rita said...

Thanks Meg! Likewise, congrats on the new kitty... life isn't busy enough, is it? ;)

Ann said...

This is a great series. I really admire how you manage to get so much into these ACEOs. Those cherries are awesome!

Rita said...

Thanks Ann!

I hope I can get quite a few of these done before the year is over. I just love working on mini's!