More Learning by Copying and Adapting

My Copy/Adaptation of Jim Flanagan's painting: "The Smoker"
Acrylic on Canvas

As I continue to learn art techniques through copying other artists' paintings, I found another artist whose work I'm drawn to -- Jim Flanagan.  Living in Phoenix, Arizona, Flanagan  paints in acrylics and relishes bright colors.  No wonder I like his work so much!  (You can find a rich collection of his paintings at Fine Art America.  Just enter his name in the "Search" bar.)

One of the sites that hosts his artwork is called "The New Fauves". The French Fauvists were artists whose paintings were characterized by intense colors with bold, distinctive brushwork.  The word "fauve" means "wild beast" in French.  The most famous fauvist was Matisse.

You may have noticed that in my copy of Flanagan's painting "The Smoker," there is no smoking going on and no evidence of a cigarette.  In Jim's original painting, the woman has a lit cigarette in her left hand with smoke wafting upwards. In the foreground of his painting are an ashtray and a lighter.  I opted to omit the cigarette for my painting and put a little tin of breath mints in the left foreground.  

And who wouldn't want a breath mint after a smoke anyway?  Perhaps my painting is the perfect "after" to Jim's "before" painting!

Here are the earlier versions of my painting as it progresses from pencil drawing and light yellow acrylic wash on canvas, through to the finished painting.  

My copy of Jim Flanagan's "The Smoker" in the early stages.

Beginning to get more color on the canvas.

I struggled with the foreground, trying to get the nice variation of colors and textures that Jim achieves in his painting.

Defining her eyes, adding more blue shading to her face.

My Final Version