This version of my Studio Journal in-progress reports is for Premium Content subscribers. This page gets the updates first, and includes materials not available in the Public and Members-Only versions (like timelapse videos). As a paid subscriber, you also have the option of putting your name on a list of those who will be notified first, and have first options to purchase, when a Project becomes a finished work of art.
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The updates below are in reverse chronological order, so the most recent is on top. To start from the beginning, go to the bottom of the page.
“Mexican Sunset” is complete! Thanks for following its creation process. The finished work has just been added to the Collector Preview Gallery. As a subscriber to the Simonson website you have access to this gallery and the option to purchase this new work–just click on the button below.
In this final painting session, I finished some areas I hadn’t gotten to yet: the beach sand, the table with its beer bottles and fish, and the border highlights on the body–those finishing touches that really make the painting come to life. Aaaaand we’re done!
I did a lot in this second session: Laid in the sky and the palm fronds, doing my best to soften all the edges, because I want this painting to have a lot of lost edges; began putting in the colors of the body, which have to be just the right value because it’s all in shadow, yet it still needs to read as not too dark; and tackling the ocean and the boat, again doing my best to soften all the edges.
After many studies, I’m finally ready to tackle the main event: the full-size painting. I begin as usual by covering the pencil underdrawing with an acrylic wash (burnt umber and dioxazine purple). Then I begin applying color.
Painting a face and figure where it’s mostly in shadow with a brighter background is tricky…so I thought I’d better do a second exploratory study just focusing on the face and upper body.
Since the subject matter in this case presented a lot of new challenges for me (a more complicated composition than usual, elements I don’t usually paint like a table with fish and beer bottles, tricky backlight, etc.), I knew I’d benefit by doing some acrylic studies first. These are incredibly helpful in terms of working out color mixtures, relative values, and just giving the artist more confidence before tackling a challenging painting.
I had an idea for a handsome young Mexican guy in a swimsuit on a beach at sunset, standing next to a table with some fish and beer, with a boat in the background. But I didn’t have any photographs that would work. So I used Artistly.ai and spent a couple of hours working with different prompts and experimenting, and finally got lucky with an image I really liked. I knew this would make a great painting, if I could just pull it off.
