Chosen Portrait Path

As I posted in my "10 Style Sketches" blog post: "My sixth idea is to create a type of Art Nouveau portrait of Tolkien. The Art Nouveau movement of the turn of the century influenced Tolkien in his youth. Art and metalworking and jewelry are extensively described in his books. Nature, beauty, and organic life are themes that flow through his works and especially characterize the elves that he created. I would model my portrait after the work of Alphonse Mucha, much like this image, titled "The Blonde" from 1897. Of course, I would make it less feminine, but I would keep the same elaborate ornamentation and patterning." This is the style idea that I have chosen to move forward with. As I begin working on my portrait today I'll start by creating a background in the Art Nouveau style so that I can create a color portrait of Tolkien on top of it. I want to begin with a round composition like "The Blonde" with a geometric border and an organic inside fill using earthy tones that really fit with Tolkien's philosophy. I will also draw inspiration from this JOB cigarettes ad by Mucha in order to illustrate the smoke from Tolkien's pipe.

 (http://www.codex99.com/design/images/mucha/job_lg.jpg)

(http://www.artcyclopedia.com/images/Mucha.jpg)