Golden Shimmy

Golden Shimmy

Original oil painting 20x10"

by Susan Roux

Finished but not yet signed.

Golden Shimmy was fun to draw. My model's body twists and moves so elegantly that its really a pleasure to capture her flow. I was very attracted to her bright cadmium yellow ensemble. Between her wiggling hips and the ocean breeze, everything fringy was in motion. It also made for an energetic combination with the blue ocean.

I took a very different approach to painting this than I'm taking for my "children at the beach". I didn't start by dripping color as shown in previous posts, Dabble color and Splashing color. I began this by blocking in the figure first. I wanted to capture her vibrancy as opposed to suggesting a youthful, playful spirit with colorful water.

The folds in her scarf practically painted themselves. Don't you just love it when that happens? It comes out so spontaneous and fresh. I toiled with her skin color, but in the end I think I managed to capture it.

Her skirt also fell right into place.

The gradual change in color from light to dark added interest.

I played with yellows in the shallow water. It integrated the otherwise too shocking definition between clothes and water. As an added benefit, it brought warm sunshine to the water. I like to play my edges loosely. Unfortunately since I use many values, photographs tend to make my work look tighter than it actually is. For this reason, I prefer to show close-ups. I think they are a better representation of my work.

Keep dreaming of warm sunshine and the approaching season change. (It is approaching, isn't it?) In the meantime, stay warm and continue creating!