Photograph by: Tan Qi Yong

The above piece is a primary research development of a 24 hour study. To the left is a photograph taken by Tan Qi Yong, a photographer found on Flickr. I was drawn to this image purely because of the amount of detail I could see and the potential the elderly woman’s expression portrayed. I could see that the shading and marks of texture seen in both her skin and her clothes would work well with oil paint; and to get the accuracy of the detail I then used a 30cm ruler to section the printed image (16cm x 24cm) into blocks measuring at (4cm x 4cm) and then the same measurements measured out onto canvas paper. This then made it easier for me to draw the image to the same scale and correct positioning as well as merging in the background to compliment the main focus of the drawing. Once drawn I then mixed similarities into oil paint and progressed with adding basic colour; using alterations due to the fact I wanted to portray a more sombre image as I felt the original piece had connotations of happiness. I intensified the wrinkles to increase the drama and contrast within the piece.