| 08 May, 2011 14:04
Several weeks ago, Sarah Merritt, the director of the Arts Council of Wayne Co. asked if I would paint a picture to use as the award to be given to the Wayne County Artist of the Year. I was honored that she would even think of me for such an important project and welcomed the opportunity.
The award was to be given to Mrs. Peggy Wingate. She has been the gran dame of Goldsboro School of Ballet for 27 yrs. She has also been instrumental in the reconstruction of the Paramount Theatre, the annual Christmas presentation of the Nutcracker, and countless civic and school programs over the years.
Where do i begin to provide an appropriate honorarium? Fortunately, Sarah had a good starting place. She e-mailed several photographs of one of Mrs. Wingate's students. Fleming Lomax had been a star pupil and had gone on to high aclaim after her early training in Goldsboro.
One of the photos immediately caught my eye. It showed Fleming being lifted with her arm extended skyward. That would be the pose. The pair were standing on stage with the curtain drawn part way across. I used the curtain shape to devide the canvas emphasizing the vertical height of the ballerina. The space behind the curtain was dark so I could emphasize her extended arm by contrasting her light flesh tone against the dark shadow. I also wanted to emphasize her toe shoes so i placed one white foot against the dark lost space behind the curtain and the other foot in front of the dark trousers worn by her supporting dancer.
I considered using different colors for her gown thinking white or light pink were more traditional ballerina colors but I was sure Mrs. Wingate was familiar with these photos and would better recognize Fleming as the subject if the gown appeared like that in the photo. It was an unusual cranberry purple-red. I mixed alizarin with raw umber and some titanium white to get the basic color. Added some cadmium red for highlights and umber for shadows and it really came together. Attached is a photo of the final 16x20 in., oil on canvas painting used as the first award for Wayne Co. Artist of the Year.
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