Eaton Centre Mannequins

Coming home from OCAD tonight I glanced out my window of the street car and caught a glimpse of this atmospheric display in the Eaton Centre's window. I jumped off at the next stop and went back to take some pictures and here they are. In thinking about what my process is as an artist and trying to figure out how I come to the decisions I do on what I want to paint I've realized that most of the time my ideas develop slowly by things I see day to day. I think that's why doing my process diary via the internet makes much more sense to me. If I spent the next 3 months forcing myself to sketch in a book like some artists do I realize that wouldn't be a true picture of how I work. The idea of the pin up has been an interest of mine for a few years now. I am sure that in some way my brother Lance's influence and his interest in that era has somewhat past on down to me. So when I see images like I did from the street car I am immediately drawn to them. It was dark out and lighting within the display was rich and I loved the effect that the feathers and the draping curtains had. As for the mannequins themselves I liked the impression they left on me. I seem to like the theatrical flair...make up, wigs...costumes, feathers, lush backdrops and more and more I am finding I want to paint that. As with pin ups I want the cheeky image from the 30's and 40's with a modern twist. My next painting in class will be heading in this direction.