Readers

One of the projects I have wanted to take on for some time is to paint people reading. I buy the "Women Read" calendar almost every single year, and am always poring over the infinite variety of poses and costumes in which people read books. I want the art to use with my Book Adept blog, and possibly to sell prints to other people who like pictures of people reading (or make my own calendar!). I have done a few, but haven't made any progress in a long time, so today I decided to tackle one.

I was all set to try painting it in gouache, but it's been a while since I did a painting I really liked, and using the new medium was, I thought, setting myself up for disappointment. So I painted this one in watercolor.

I found a picture of a young woman reading in a wing chair and thought it would work great. It didn't have much of a background, but I was planning to put one in. I was going to put either a wooden bureau or a bookcase in the background on one side of her, but I got so involved in the drawing of the girl and chair that when it came time, I completely forgot that plan and started painting, so then it was too late. It feels a little weird to me, with her in the chair in the middle of such a large space—she should have at least had a side table for a cup of tea—but so be it.

I wasn't quite sure what I wanted to do in the background otherwise—I had an elaborate aspiration to add Victorian wallpaper—so I decided to be smart and paint the background one solid color, scan the picture, and then do the wallpaper so if I messed it up, or didn't end up liking it, I would still have the original. Now, however, I can't decide which one I like better. I do like the wallpaper, but the plain background probably showcases the reader better. I guess, since I have scans of both, that I don't have to choose!

I painted this from an old classic Hollywood glamour photo in black and white, so it was a little hard here and there to get the colors right for the various shadows. But over all, I'm satisfied.