Sunday, August 07, 2011

Dental Exam pt 1 (photo shoot)

i've wanted to make a painting with a dental exam theme forever. well, no time like the present! here's a super-quick doodle that got the ball rolling. but for this piece, rather than going directly from sketch to painting, i wanted to get some photo reference to bolster my drawing.
original doodle















and that's where my buddies émilie and tanya and other dave came in. we got together at my swank downtown studio for an evening shoot. i wanted to try and get material for the painting, but i went in open to improvisation and exploration. which is good, because i pretty quickly realized that my sketch is anatomically ridiculous. so we set out to just take a million pics and see what happened.

tanya
émilie

dave is my studio mate, and a seasoned professional photographer. a good friend/ally to have at times like these. he's got a great eye, but he's very sensitive to the things that i want. he even lets me shoot with  his one million dollar camera if the spirit grabs me.
when discussing wardrobe in emails before the shoot, émilie said, "i'll just bring a suitcase full of shit and we'll play dress up." *swoon* 

and she even brought a friend too, so BONUS!

make-up and hair

facial exercises

testing the location/props

"what the hell have i gotten myself into?"

it's not that kinf of exam, ém!!


models cocked and ready

last minute wardrobe adjustments...

set ready, lights, camera...

models, take your postitions...

SMOKE BREAK?????!!!!!!

after i tried to get as much material for the painting as i needed, i asked everybody if they had any advice/suggestions. émilie said she thought we should get way more aggressive and kinetic. so at that point the models started face/wrestling and dave and i just tried to keep up. i can't believe what great sports these gals are! i think i have a new favourite hobby!
let the insanity begin















me getting in the way

tanya, "lemme just wash my hands..."
émilie, "eh, it's a livin'"