Candle Lit - February's Theme - Chapter One

*Housekeeping - Thank you for your patience and understanding while my and my family have been dealing with covid set-backs and recovery this month. Despite vaccination, it has been a hard few weeks, but I am finally returning to the work that has been on hold, and editing the reference material for this month's Tier One theme has finally been completed! Thank you, once again.

This month, with the cold and sick preventing more exciting outdoor photoshoot content {looking at March for more to come}, I'm offering a candle-lit theme, instead.

Candle light is a more tender and precious light than full on fire, for obvious size reasons, and the intimate, quiet, or "lean in closer" feel that candles can imbue figure reference with is a unique and useful affect to take a closer look at, creatively.

I really enjoy the way a solitary flame can completely shift the tonal range of a simple face or figure on a plain wall. The colors come alive, and the true colorist opportunities for working with the dynamism of complimentary colors is so fun. There's so much to do from such a limited or simple thing.

If you're currently working on values, rendering forms through value ranges, or anything more chiaroscuro, the candle lit portrait or figure is useful in that sense. And if you are currently working on your color, playing with the conversation between opposites, limiting the palette to complimentary pairs like this one here of blue and orange is a great opportunity as well.

Or, just enjoy the mood and potential for conceptual story-telling by going with the postures and creating more of a narrative through an illustrative approach!

Just under the wire, this batch focuses more on the context of the figure with the candle, and tomorrow's second chapter upload will feature the hands in candle light, so it'll be a great gesture opportunity, with temperature as a fun component. More on that tomorrow!

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As always, please cite the help and be courteous of all modeling. Whatever study or work you create from the reference, when sharing publicly, always mention the model (Mairin-Taj Caya) and tag (IG: @Caya_Art, Patreon: Mairin-Taj Caya) to credit considerately and share the opportunity for others. Help me grow this Patreon!

This is a space for supportive and respectful artistic development, no abuse of my work as a life model will be tolerated. And no requests for pornographic content will be entertained. Thank you for understanding.

Model: Mairin-Taj Caya

Photographed & Edited by: Mairin-Taj Caya

Copyright 2022 Mairin-Taj Caya