Beads! Lots of them

 

I found painting the beads a challenge, until I found an easy way to give them depth. For each color I mixed a light and a dark. I'd paint the dark of the bead and then dot the lighter color as a highlight.

(If you click on the above image and zoom in you can see what I mean.) Keep in mind these painted beads are quite a bit smaller than in real life.

 

On the collar there are two horizontal beaded bars. The actual collar has single different colored beads for the horizontal bars. A single red bead next to a white, next to a yellow, next to a ...

At this scale (the painting is 32" X 21") that would read as a jumble. I decided to take the colors from the flat rectangular piece below the collar and use those colors for the bars.

 

There were also sections of the earrings which had individual beads next to a different colored bead. I decided to match the horizontal bar colors I created.

 

 

 

 

I can't sew

Well, I can sew on a button and I have used a sewing machine once for a project a long time ago. But, the idea of making a dress or even hemming one, is daunting.

However, I can alter clothing from my model. 

 

 The first item to change on this dress were the sleeves. My model's dress had short sleeves and sleeveless is the common style among Maasai women. A cloak/blanket would be worn over the dress for warmth.

 

 The second thing to change were the wrinkles. My model was standing with her right hip forward (left as we are looking at the painting.) Her hip was more prominent and fabric folds were across her hips. I "moved" her right hip in and added more dress to her left side. The fabric folds are more modest.

 

The dress had swirls of beads in places but this distracted from the beads flowing down from the neck collar. I "removed" those beads.

 

Lastly, I painted the fabric to have more of a thick cotton look.

 

 

 

At this point I've started on the beading. I knew there was more work to do on her face but wanted to wait until all the beading was done.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Red!

 

With a sepia-toned background and muted colors in the basket and fruit, the red dress will stand out.

Here come the colors!

 

 

 

A tisket, a tasket, what's in the basket?

 

I didn't want an empty basket so it was time to choose something. Fruit seemed to be a good choice but which one?

My first thought was baobab fruit, an African superfruit. Though I have seen lots of baobab trees I do not have a good reference for its fruit.

But, I do have good photos of sausage trees I saw and could use its fruit. With a little bit of research I find that once roasted the sausage tree fruit is good to eat but in its raw form it is toxic to humans. I scratched that idea as I didn't want her holding a basket of poisonous fruit! 

What about mangoes? I've had some delicious mangoes in Kenya. But, when were mango trees introduced to Kenya? If it was in the 1960s or so, I'd be adding a modern element which I didn't want. Once again, research. Mango trees are presumed to have been introduced to Kenya in the 10th century. Great, ancient enough for me.

 

Now, to get some reference of mangoes. (My favorite dried mangoes from Trader Joe's would not work.) I headed to the grocery store for mangoes. Kenya has six popular mango varieties and I could turn any of my local variety in to one of them.

 

So many decisions go in to a painting. It is details, like what to put in a basket, which make trying new things interesting. 

 

 

 

 

 

Hands and Basket

 

My model has beautiful hands. When she was at my house for the photo shoot, her nails were perfectly "dressed" with a bright red nail polish. It looked wonderful on her but was not the natural vision I had for the painting. Using artistic license, I "removed" the nail polish and in a future post you will see what I came up with for her nails.

 

 

 When I was thinking of the painting I had the idea of her holding a basket. I have a number of baskets but none were authentically Kenyan. So, I ordered one. Wanting something simple, I thought this one had just enough interest but did not draw attention away from the rest of the painting.

 

 

 

 

 

More

For the highlights on her hair I used ultramarine blue and King's blue mixed with titanium white.

 

 

 The dress my model wore had short sleeves. For a more traditional Maasai look I painted her without the sleeves.

 

 

Kenyan native

My model has wonderfully warm and welcoming eyes. None of that is captured with a camera. It takes time together to see the person within.

 

 

This is just the start of the face. I worked on it throughout the painting of the piece.