Dollieh Sanctuary

Thought I'd share my work in progress, because it's got a long way to go, but I feel like I need to show someone. Already spent 4 days on it (taking breaks of course) and basically I'm at "fully-fleshed-out-digital-color-sketch" stage. It's taking me a while to get my painting legs back under me apparently. I mean my skills seem to be where I left off cartoonishly, but now I need to work towards making it look more realistic. I know that's a little backwards, but I'm weird... Then when that extra room here is finally empty I can actually turn it into an oil painting.

I hope to have several digital paintings done before my studio room is ready. I'm working on a sort of horror-ish series as my psychologist suggested for therapy. Something I wanted to do anyway, but his prompting put it at the top of my list. This is the first one, the beginning of my descent into darkness.

I used a combination of reference shots of my mannequin and the digital model I sculpted for IMVU. Neither of which were much help... but at least they helped for positioning. Oh and sorry about the in-progress thing. I'm a bit paranoid after having so many of my meshes and textures stolen in IMVU all the time. I know regular art is far less plagerized, but still...

But you can see whyI want a better model... something that poses a lot better than the mannequin, but that I can drape clothes on unlike the digital model.

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Edit to add finished version:
Well, finally finished my first painting that utilized the aide of the mannequin. Not as good as I had hoped, but I think it's going to take me a bit longer to get back into the swing of painting again than I thought it would Still, this is the digital version, so eventually I'll paint it out in oils on canvas. Hopefully that will turn out better.


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references:

This is a frightening painting.

I kinda like it. I think you're right, a doll would make a great model, especially an Obitsu.

Thank you EAB! That's what I was going for. I've seen so many horror movies that I'm numb to things that should look scary, but if anyone is creeped out buy it, then I have achieved what I meant to.

And thank you too Linteia! I definitely hope that having a better model will make painting faster/easier.

This first collection of paintings I'm doing is on the horror-ish side. This first one will actually be the most tame in the collection.

It symbolizes the beginning of my decomposition into the thing that I am now. I have been so unhappy for so long now...invisible, lonely, sad, angry, frustrated. First I felt a general loss of identity, then the loss of myself as a woman, then I began to feel less and less human altogether. The next painting will show how I feel about myself.

Individual aspects may seem kind of cliche, but I'm hoping the collection as a whole won't be... But to hell with it, because even if 3 billion other people in the world feel the same way I do, should I not express myself because of that?

Thank you both again for commenting. I haven't shown my current works to many people, but you're the first one to bother responding to me. I feel a little better/less invisible now ^_^

She seems to be seeking a way out of all the forces pulling at her.

I actually like the way you've painted the fabric in her dress. It feels surreal and to me it is suggestive of water the way it seems to ripple and reflect. It gives me the feeling of sinking into a mere or swamp which I find particularly moving

richila wrote:She seems to be seeking a way out of all the forces pulling at her.

Yes She struggled and reached out, but there was no salvation to be had.

yarwel wrote:I actually like the way you've painted the fabric in her dress. It feels surreal and to me it is suggestive of water the way it seems to ripple and reflect. It gives me the feeling of sinking into a mere or swamp which I find particularly moving

Thank you! that kind of fits a bit with the theme too, like being mired there with the encroaching dangers.

I'm still working on this, particularly around the edges.

<3 Obitsu make wonderful painting subjects. I received mine after my school semester was over, and as soon as I had posted a photo of her on Facebook, my painting professor was excited about me using her as a subject. I will admit I really do love the idea.

Aine wrote:<3 Obitsu make wonderful painting subjects. I received mine after my school semester was over, and as soon as I had posted a photo of her on Facebook, my painting professor was excited about me using her as a subject. I will admit I really do love the idea.

Yeah I was sure I wasn't the first person who ended up with this conclusion while looking for a good model subject substitute hehe.

Well, finally finished my first painting that utilized the aide of the mannequin. Not as good as I had hoped, but I think it's going to take me a bit longer to get back into the swing of painting again than I thought it would Still, this is the digital version, so eventually I'll paint it out in oils on canvas. Hopefully that will turn out better.