Lumbering about in Art Deco land.

Not sure if this will be of interest, many will think that Art Deco style painting is old hat.  But I like it, and have been trying to produce some of my own.  It's a era that's full of delight for me, paintings, sculpture, jewellery, watches and some prime examples of the automobile as a work of art. I didn't want to copy something, but rather try to distil what made it art deco.  I found several paintings I admired that had simplified the figures and used some kind of tile, or mosaic effect in the background.  So I thought I'd give that a shot.   At first, I thought it was going well...then my enthusiasm wavered, but I kept going (it's only paper, ink and paint after all).  I did one, thought it not right, but nearly there, and tried again. Result...two paintings I don't like.   Here they are. I got the tile/mosaic/colored shape effect wrong.  They don't look very Deco to me.   'A cloche hat doth not an Art Deco picture make.'  (Alouishus Algernon Cooper, 1923. So then I thought I would copy an ART DECO painting I like, in the hope that I'd learn something.  I chose a self-portrait by Tamara De Lempicka.  If you google a search for art deco painting, you'll be swamped with her stuff.  Much of it I don't like, but there are half-a-dozen or so that I think are gems.  Her self portrait is one.   Here it is...Self Portrait by Tamara. Definitely art deco.  Sleek, almost artificial.  First problem with these photos is the huge color variations you get...I don't know which one was nearest the original.  So I plumped for this one.  Thinking it might end up on my wall, I cropped it to suit my frame...landscape format aperture 16 x 12 inches.  Using the grid method, I produced this cropped version... I wasn't too fussed about the colors...it was the 'feel' I was after.  I couldn't work out what some of the things were, mostly what she's wearing.  Some kind of leather coat that seems to be flapping in the wind??  Dunno.  Anyway, I reproduced the shapes I saw.  The car looked a bluish/green to me...I opted to make it blue. What I learned was she left stuff fairly rough, and her clothing looks stiff like plastic sheeting...but it works for her, if not for me.  When I looked up the actual title it was called 'Self Portrait in a Green Bugatti.'  So my blue is wrong, not that that matters for my purposes.  The face isn't bad, not sure about the rest. So, I'd still like to make a Deco painting, and will try some more.  Not there yet.  (won't be posting this stuff in the gallery.)

Cos I can't spel, Sylvia.  I think you're right about the color/colour/cooleur, my love of raging bright color has let me down, when next I lumber into deco I'll try to fix it.