Let them eat cake

I had this very large 16x20 canvas I wanted to do something EPIC with it.  I also just bought this book by Suzi Blu.  In this book, she created a Marie Antoinette. I did not want to copy her painting, but I did want to be heavily influenced by Suzi. If you have not checked out Suzi's work I highly recommend it.  Her work is exquisite. 

The first step was to make my sketch. It did not post that picture because I did it very lightly.  Suzi's work featured a castle, I wanted Versailles.  I also wanted cake, even though Marie never said the famous "quote" I HAD to have it on my canvas.

After I had my layout like I wanted it I had to insert Marie. I drew her on a vellum paper because I intended on blending her skin tone.  I drew how big I wanted her to be on the vellum paper. I used colored pencils by Prismacolor to create my tones.  I drew a face, a neck with a low cut dress line, and two arms.  I then cut those out and put them onto the canvas (do not adhere). I then drew the body around the completed body parts. 

I took the body parts off and painted the background.  I wanted a red toned background.  To me, this represented the French Revolution which is really what this is all about. I used a red-brown mixture for the ground so that it looked a tad different from the sky.  Versailles is created with gold, green and diamond color. It sparkles.

Once the basic background was done I added Marie's body (using mod podge) and began her clothing. I used fabric for her bodice and skirt.  Her sleeves are made by using color pencils and blending as much as I could for definition.  Then I took UTEE (one of my faves) and layered a good layer over the pencil work.  It made for a slick, shiny almost satiny finish.  I then sprayed her skirt with Perfect Pearls in silver for some shimmer. 

Her hair is made using modeling paste and heavy gel. I just kept layering until it was as thick and fluffy as I wanted it to be with a palette knife.  I added some tendrils by simply placing my palette knife as Bob Ross would have with a tree.  Like Suzi, I added fibers into the hair, but one step above, I added some glass glitter for more shimmer (it's all about the shine!).


Next, it was time for details. I had to add details to Versailles, which for the most part was done with paint.  I did put a stamped clock unto the castle front and embossing with Midnight black powder.  I added some transparency garland to the front and some quotes from one of my favorite books.  It was set in Paris.  I outlined the words "castle", "court" and "passionate" on each book page.

The Eiffel Tower graces the top of the castle just for fun.  Scrabble tiles spell out her name, chipboard flowers grace a stenciled design that was made with my homemade modeling paste.  In the yard, I added a doily that was distressed with Distress Ink.  I embossed a chipboard table with silver embossing powder.  The cake is made from Paris themed scrapbook paper scraps.  I think it is by My Mind's Eye.  I added the famous "quote" but decided to layer it in UTEE as well. I just love that stuff.

A ribbon and some fun pennants finish out the corner.  I thought she needed some jewelry so I added a barrette I found on the floor at the last LOHS prom to her hair, pearls for a necklace and a Tim Holtz bobble for more bling.  I hope you enjoy, because I LOVE her and I am craving cake.