That blue dress got me.
I was searching for inspiration among great paintings in “Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien” (KHM) in Vienna and while I was wandering around making sketches I stopped in a front of only Vermeer picture in possesion of KHM.
It was this one: The art of painting .It poped against the background, drawing me in like a magnet. The way it drapes, the way it catches the light—it’s captivating. The dress seems to tell a story of sophistication through its fabric. Each crease and fold appears meticulously crafted, almost as if the artist delicately painted them into existence, making the dress come alive with elegance. So I stayed with this detail of great picture for 7 weeks producing versions and versions of that cutout and trying to get at least simmilar grace and beauty like Jan Vermeer did.At some point it started to be my motif, and let me creating my own picture out of it. Here is my journey in pictures..
I started with sketches, that’s how you should do as a good student.
First one was drawn in a front of original painting with reduced palet of color pencils. Then in did it in watercolor, and then I tryed with contrast background. It was clear for me , after this sketches that I do not want to work with whole picture, I just want dress, evtl women in a dress.
Don’t inquire about the mechanics, but somehow, I found myself unable to shake this idea. It lingered, becoming a constant companion. I toyed with it incessantly, pondering it before sleep, carrying it through my days, and occasionally, images formed purposefully while at other times, they spontaneously emerged.
As pastel chalk feels familiar to me, my initial attempt resulted in these two versions.
Not bad, it shows that I learned how to reproduce pictures in this technique. And resulted in pictures of dress with a book , and with pretty much of shine like in original !!! Interessting to see how book as well became important as a part of a motif
Next was watrecollor, but this was not shinig so strong like I wanted. Then I draw it once again, and tryed to do it comic way.. in watercollor as well + fineliner.
For my next attempt, once more using pastel chalk, I experimented with a different background. The image motif seems to be taking on a life of its own, departing from mere reproduction and evolving into a unique, increasingly personalized picture—hopefully, more and more my own.
My teacher introduced me to a new technique involving pigments with casein, so I decided to give it a try on my motif. The first attempt used only pigments, the second involved struggling with the technique on an improper background, and the last one stands as one of the most successful outcomes of my “Blue Dress Journey.” By incorporating a vibrant background and layering bright pigments, I managed to create a luminous rendition of the dress.
Journey was still not over, those were still more or less reproductions. How to get this picture enriched with my soul ?
Well, I love collage. And this is collage version, I love it !!
I also lean towards crisp lines and defined color areas, so I created these pieces accordingly. There’s no shine present anymore; instead, the focus is on the shapes, with the book taking on a more prominent role.
Finally, abstraction, which marks the third of my favorites in this series of work. It signifies the start of something fresh, and it’s possible that I’ll revisit it in the future to create more pictures stemming from this point.
To be frank, throughout these seven weeks, it wasn’t always simple to remain focused on one topic. However, in conclusion, I’ve found that dedicating more time to a single motif can be quite productive. If anyone out there finds inspiration in this, I’d love to hear from you. Are you embarking on a similar journey, and is it proving as satisfying for you as it has been for me? Let me know.
Maja Julijana B 