Wall-E

Session 1

I began this session with an outline of Wall-E’s form. I sketched in his shape with a medium value gray oil paint diluted with a little solvent to thin the paint. My objective is to position him on the 11 x 14” canvas using the reference photo. I don’t put a lot of attention into detail at this point…..I just want to establish location of the head, eyes, and body as per the photo. I include general shapes of the bluebonnets close to his body which will be developed later. This drawing will be allowed to thoroughly dry and will serve as a template to further develop the painting. This is the end of session 1.

Session 2

My main goal in this session was to develop the eyes. When I first starting painting I would leaves the eyes until later but I learned that if the eyes are not right the whole painting will suffer. So eye position and general shape is my objective now as I leave details until after this session dries. In addition to the eyes I worked on shaping the ears and nose. This is the end of session 2.

Session 3

In this session I worked on the mouth, jaw, nose, tongue, chin, and collar. After this session dries I will rework some of the features as necessary. In the next session I will start working the body and begin the bluebonnets. This is the end os session 3.

Session 4

I will leave the face, neck and collar area to dry so in this session I worked the body with light gray paint to start to establish form. I began to locate some of the bluebonnets which will be developed later. In the next session I will begin to develop foliage starting in front of and on the side of Wall-E. This is the end os session 4.

Session 5

This session was devoted to beginning the bluebonnets and foliage around them. I mixed a neutral green from ultramarine blue and cadmium yellow pale. For darker areas in between the foliage I added more ultra blue to darken the green mixture and added some white for lighter areas. The bluebonnets are ultramarine blue, white and a little gray. I left a small area in the lower left corner for my signature when the painting is complete. In the next session I will work around to the left going progressively lighter and smaller as the flowers and foliage recede into the distance. This is the end of session 5.

Session 6

I continued working as described in session 5 by adding the foliage and hint of flowers along the left side. On the right side I added a base color over which I will add foliage and bluebonnets in proportion to correct size as they recede into the distance. This is the end of session 6.

Session 7

In this session I continued to work the background to fill in the foliage and bluebonnets adjusting the color value and size to progressively lighter and smaller in the distance. I will let this now dry and review it for any adjustments in a few days. My attention now will switch to Wall-E to see where I need to improve color value and form. This is the end of session 7.

Session 8

During session 8, I touched up small areas like the collar, name tag, ears, and some other facial features that are barely discernible in the photo. I also added some subtle gray shading in Wall-E’s head and body. I signed the painting in the lower left corner that is also difficult to see in the photo. I will review the painting again by comparing it to the original photo for any last minute corrections. Then I will let the painting dry thoroughly before I apply the varnish layer. Varnish will protect the surface and help bring out the colors. I will mount the painting in the frame for the final session 9. This is the end of session 8.

Session 9

After the painting was thoroughly dry I applied a layer of Damar varnish over the entire painting. The varnish will protect the surface and bring out the colors.
This is the end of session 9 and the end of the project.