Monday, December 21, 2009

Painting in progress for Beautiful Grim

Visit beautifulgrim.org for information about the Beautiful Grim art auction; hosted by fellow Northern Virginian Daarken and his friend Leif Jeffers, proceeds will go to helping pay medical bills for Daarken's girlfriend, Cat, after her treatments for breast cancer, and any remainder will go toward breast cancer charities.

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**UPDATE, session 2**
beautiful_grim_Session2

Since the underlying theme of the auction is human endurance, I decided to stem off of a theme from my Trial by Water series; to me, water's effect on its surroundings represents the trials of everyday life, and is frequently a vision in my nightmares. But more than fear, these paintings are about being resilient and learning to live with conflict and hardship put upon you by outside forces you cannot control.

I think the idea of Beautiful Grim is incredible, and is not only going to benefit Cat, but is bringing the whole fantasy/game artist community together for a good cause. Above is the start of my entry into the auction/show. Started just this weekend, I'm about 12 hours into the actual painting (not counting the 9 hours for sketching, shooting reference, more sketching, prepping the surface, etc.) The final size is 24"W x 18"H, oil on illustration board.

9 comments:

  1. Oh, Cynthia, this is gonna be wonderful! I signed up for Beautiful Grim too; the cause really tugged at my heartstrings. I hope I can crank out something as poignant as your painting...

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  2. That's great, Christine! Isn't it amazing how many people came together for this so quickly? I'm very excited to see what everyone puts together.

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  3. Looks awesome ! Reminds me of one of my favorite Sargent portraits :
    http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/19/Sargent-Lady-Agnew-of-Lochnaw-1893.jpg

    I hope I can contribute something as good as this to Beautiful Grim -you definitely have set a high bar.

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  4. Lady Agnew is totally one of my favorites ever. My dad and I studied it together when I was a kid (he's a portrait painter). I love how you picked up on the Sargent influence without me mentioning it!

    I figure since my name isn't as big as a lot of the artists contributing I'd go all out and do an original oil- want to help them raise as much money as possible. Plus, it's a great excuse to try out oil techniques I don't get to use too much commercially. Definitely want to check out yours when it's done :) Thanks, Scott!

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  5. AHh very cool! I guess we didn't get to chat much, but I had no idea your pops was an artist. That is really cool.

    Yeah that got some big names on there..which is great. I'm pretty packed so I might have to dig out an older piece to send in. I think it is great you are going all out...and it is turning out terrific! You'll have a nice portfolio piece when you are done to boot. And now I think you look like Lady Agnew :)

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  6. That's a triple win! ;

    That's one of the downsides to having a table at Illux- you kinda get trapped back there instead of getting to freely roam. Will make a concerted effort to haunt your booth more this coming year. Or (if Daarken decides to do it on the East coast) I might see you at the Beautiful Grim show? ;)

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  7. Wow! That is great! I can't believe I just found this. I can't wait to see what the final looks like. There are going to be so many paintings that I want to buy for myself, haha.

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  8. Heya! It's coming along - I've done another sitting since this, but you know how it is... start something and then realize you have like 12 other deadlines piling up!

    Either way, VERY glad you like it! Hope it makes a lot of $$ for the cause :)

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  9. This is absolutely gorgeous Cyn. I am so in awe of your talent.

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