Friday 12 October 2012

A place away from darkness

I finished my painting! It might not look much changed for an outsider, but those last details were a lot of work! I'm so happy that I discovered Paint Party Friday. It really makes me force myself to paint at least a little each week. Not that I don't like painting, far from it!, but you know how it is: life sometimes gets in the way and before you know it a few weeks have passed and you didn't paint.

Well, with PPF not anymore! Even though I have been really busy this week, I painted and it sure felt good!

I'll show you the process from start to finish:

This is the way it looked when I took it out of my closet. Just some leftover paint scraped out over it, and a sand background (fine sand mixed with primer and put on the painting with a palette knife.

Finally used some of my stencils (I have a whole bunch but rarely use them)

Doodled a bit on top (because the sand background makes the surface really rough, I used different techniques than the ones I use with my Flora-paintings)

Doodled some more and tried some drips

Contrary to my intuitive paintings, I didn't look for something to jump out at me. Instead I use a sketch from my sketchbook that I wanted to turn into a painting.

Started with the figure but thought it was too dark

So I lightened it up ☺

Starting on the face



Started working the background but changed my mind several times. Tried painting waves: blah, tried painting lines: blah, painted a bird: yes!

Finally decided on painting corals. This is where I stopped last week.

Thought it'd be fun to add some bubbles

Worked a bit more on the fish and the corals (and boy that was a lot of work!)

Gave the bird some legs, finished the eyes, gave her an earring and used my white paint pen to bring out the details in her hair. Although, now that I see it next to the other one I'm not sure I should've done that.

Oh well ....

And since I discovered sketching again, here's another sketch:

Sketch with graphite and coloured pencils, then scanned it and in Photoshop pasted a picture of an in-progress painting as background.

I'm going to make a calendar out of these sketches with painted background, and add some words to it. But I'm not sure which service to use. Does anybody have experience with Redbubble, CafePress, Zazzle or Lulu for making calendars? Tips and advice are very welcome!

Well, thanks for your visit! I'm linking this to Paint Party Friday, be sure to check out all the beautiful work on there.

And once again: I wish you a wonderful Friday and a restful playful weekend! ♥ ♥ ♥

33 comments:

  1. I am in awe of your painting-the colors and layers! The details are fantastic when I clicked on it to see it larger. Happy PPF!

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  2. So great the building of this painting. So much layers and details. I am dumb. So wonderful. How the figure is slowly emerging.
    Lovely greet
    Marja

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  3. Both are fantastic! I love the transparency of the first piece. :)

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  4. Oh my word- this is fantastic! I know I keep saying it but I love seeing your art progress through all the stages and how it ends up always amazes me. The colours are always so beautiful and the things you see as you go along are just wonderful!
    As for your sketch - she is beautiful - I really hope you'll participate in my Face Forward project as I know folk would love a portrait of themselves like that!

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  5. I just love seeing your painting process. It is amazing how she completely snapped to life once you added the eyes, the whole painting seemed to gel with that step.
    And your sketch is marvelous too!

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  6. The process is so informative. With all the layers, the transparency is amazing! Beautiful work

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  7. I love watching you work. Each week I think the painting is so beautiful and the next week I think the same but love seeing the changes. I am learning so much from you. Thank you!

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  8. this is so awesome!! i love how your painting turned out. I like that you added white to her hair...it really makes the underpainting pop out. The coral was a nice addition, too.

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  9. Your paintings -as ALWAYS - Marvelous!!! Your woman is so beautiful. I can't wait to see how the other turns out - it's looking great! xoxo

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  10. Wow, beautiful. The elements and colors make her dreamy. Lovely work. I totally agree about the inspiration to paint weekly from participating in PPF - Its a wonderful thing.

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  11. How beautiful! And what an evolution... she is ethereally lovely! And looking forward to seeing what you do with your sketch.

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  12. Your painting really came a long way from the day it came out of the closet to the finished, beautiful design. It has an other world appearance now. Very nice. Also, your sketch is top-notch drawing.

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  13. Enjoyed the process very much. She is beautiful. The colors really pull you in. Love it! You have a great weekend too. Thanks.

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  14. HOW I admire your gorgeous art work!! You are incredible! Your fantasy is great and you really know how to get it down to the paper!! wow!! =D

    I love the picture from the bathroom, so solorful and lovely!!
    and
    I love your piece where you've used the graphite and the colored surface behind, and so fun to see it especially because the last couple of days I've tried to draw with graphite too, and I really love it! I'll try a color background aslo, it seems very exciting.. :) especially aslo with the colored eyes and lips! :)

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  15. some corrections..:

    so colorful and lovely

    I'll try a colored background also


    :/

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  16. wow your painting has turned out brilliantly, loving all those finishing touches. Also loving your fab drawing. Happy PPF, Annette x

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  17. I just love this painting, your work is gorgeous! <3

    Gretchen

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  18. WOW. Amazing process and job.. Love the portrait too. Lots of talent here. HPPF

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  19. Thank you for sharing the process, the painting is so wonderful and full of interesting details, colors, blends and shadows. Lovely drawing of a pretty face, too! <3

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  20. this was like looking through the coolest flipbook ever! i loved seeing every bitty step of how she emerged!

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  21. GORGEOUS layer upon layer upon layer and painting and doodling!!!! Your portrait is soo beautiful too! HPPF!

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  22. thanks for showing the progress of a painting. great! alpha shanahan #26

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  23. I loved seeing your painting from start to finish, but loved that sketch even more... hope we see more like this soon...xx

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  24. This is a lovely piece, thanks for showing your steps!

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  25. She seems to magically manifest from the colourful background.

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  26. What an amazing process..so many yummy layers and then you take charge! I love the whimsy, the magic, the color and the silly bird that must be putting the bug in her ear!! Your other face is beautiful too...I love your work!!

    Hugs Giggles

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  27. I love your paintings and your latest sketch..... her face is amazing.

    I'm sorry I know nothing about making calendars :(

    Karenx

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  28. Love the whole process with your painting!! Your colors always appeal to me on a very deep level.

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  29. Thanks for sharing your process!
    Lovely painting;)

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  30. oh wow!!!! this is amazing each and every piece you create!!! love the colours !!!

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  31. I always love seeing the process of your paintings!
    So glad you found Paint Party Friday, too!
    Being a part of it is so motivating and encouraging!
    ♥♥♥
    Happy PPF!!
    Mary
    Mixed-Media Map Art

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  32. loved seeing how you went about your painting, it really is quite wonderful.
    love your sketch too, she has a wonderful look to her.

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  33. Just overwhelmed by the beautiful glow you get with your colors! Love the finished underwater girl!

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Thanks for taking the time to comment! I love hearing your thoughts about my work. Because I am getting too many spammer comments, l have to use Captcha, sorry. Hope this is not a problem for you !