Taratories Blog

Scarlett O'Hara

Scarlett O'Hara, one of the main characters in Margaret Mitchell's novel Gone with the Wind, has always been one of my favorite literary characters.  Not only was Vivien Leigh an incredible talent and beauty, she was part of a film that my parents got my name from.  Tara was the plantation that was Scarlett's most treasured possession and I feel a great kinship to her and the film because of this. This is one of my favorite looks she had in the movie.  The feathers, the tulle, the glitz, the glam, the scarlett, I love it all.

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I decided that this photo was the one I would use for reference for a painting I was going to do.  First I drew Scarlett's face.  I think her raised eyebrow really makes her look like Scarlett.  I never thought about that before, but after I drew her I realized that this was signature to her look.

Then, I added the beautiful scarlett dress with my watercolors and built it up in layers to create the right tone.

Next I added gold behind her which really made her face pop and was a great compliment to the Scarlett color.  Usually I do more in the circle behind the women I paint, but with this one, I felt that all it needed was gold.  I didn't want anything to distract from the star of the show and I felt like less was more in this situation.

I added some touches of acrylic paint on her dress where it needed some darker tones and also darkened up her hair.  I also gave her some red lips and added the gold bling additions which really made the piece come alive.

I'm really happy with how it turned out!  This painting was created for an auction that is for a great cause!  The money raised through this auction goes to the National Down Syndrome Society.  Bidding is live as of today!  If you want to have a chance to win this painting and support a great cause, place your bid here: https://www.501auctions.com/ndssgala2017/item/517744 . The silent auction ends at 10pm on March 30th!

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