The Studio was open this past weekend and nearly all visitors got a glimpse of the new, large scale canvas I am currently working upon – Beren and Luthien in the Court of Thingol and Melian. The final size to the art will be 110″ x 60″ (278 cm x 150 cm), and while not my largest painting it is certain to be the most ambitious and labor intensive. After many requests to document the work, I thought to share the initial design sketches that allowed me to proceed successfully to the state the work is now in.Â
Today I was able to finish the drawing with Kelley, my
assistant, sealing the drawing under a coat of matte medium. Tomorrow I
begin the under painting. Having no real idea how much labor will finally be involved, I am blocking out three months of time to render this up. I have a feeling it will take longer…
See you in the summer! …2016 maybe?   🙂
Amazing! I can't wait to see the finished work. And at this point in my career, I can't imagine working on anything this big.
It's going to be totally majestic. Wonderful design and drawing.
Good luck Donato, the design is awesome! I hope to see more in progress shots to underpainting and final layers. :))
Very inspiring Donato! I can't wait to see the next update!
This may be a dumb question, but how does something that large get out of the studio when it's finished? Does it get rolled up, or is it small enough to fit through the door frame as is?
Very interesting piece, Donato! I look forward to your progress updates! Really like the flow of the people in such an elaborate setting. It will be interesting to see what you have in mind for the color scheme and lighting.
Great composition. Can't wait to see the finish
Holy moly. That is HUGE, and such a complex scene/composition. Excited to follow your progress!
Thanks for giving us the opportunity to watch you create such a beautifully laborious piece of art! I can't wait to see where this goes!
What's the story in the piece?
Your large paintings are so inspirational! Now I want to go stretch a 6'x7' canvas like I did in college. Fantasic fun! I can't wait to see where this goes. Thanks for sharing!
You're our kind of crazy. 🙂
I roll it up after the final varnish is applied (my studio is on the third floor of our home), then stretch it in our main living room, crate it, and then barely squeeze it out the front door!
Holy moley, that's huge! Always good to see process images. Good luck with it, can't wait to see how it turns out.
This will be magnificent! How long do you wait before applying the final varnish?
I see, thanks for the reply good sir! Happy painting 🙂
Looking great so far! Do you shoot photo reference for your figures?
Thank you for sharing!
We were kinda taking bets that evening on how long we thought it would take you. I had said 2 months. You disappoint me ;-p
It's an awesome start, can't wait to see it!
Looking forwards to following your progress.