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Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Finished Painting Of "Passage Into Palisade"


"Passage Into Palisade"
Completed Painting
18x24
Acrylic

A couple years ago my family and I went to explore the beautiful Mississippi Palisade Park. I had taken several pictures while there of my family and some landscape photos. But this particular picture of my daughter using her cell phone to snap a quick picture was interesting to me. At the time, my daughter did not want her photo taken but I did anyway...one of her back! Once home and downloaded to my computer I thought the picture on the back of her t-shirt was just as interesting as the background of the surrounding park. It inspired me to want to paint a picture within a picture.

Enhancing Folds And Lettering

Enhancing folds and lettering

At this stage, I wanted to give more depth to the t-shirt. First, I enhanced the folds by using a lighter shade of blue gray for the darkest part of the folds. Then I mixed various shades of white mixed with gray for the lightest part of the folds. Once the folds were complete I focused on the lettering. I mixed a combination of orange, burnt umber, Payne's gray, and white until I was satisfied with the end result. When mixing the paint for the folds and lettering I watered down the acyclic paint until the consistency was similar to watercolor. I applied several thin applications until the lettering began to take shape and color was where I wanted it to be.

Flat To Flare


Continue adding more layers

When working with an image that is flat and boring it is time to create more flare. Creating shadows and folds can bring life to a flat subject. I continued adding more layers to hair and t-shirt to give more depth and dimension.


Adding darker values to the background


Continue adding darker layers

As I continued adding darker values I noticed my painting was not looking like I wanted. The more color I used in the background for the distant trees became to close and crisp. So I decided to do a wash of white mixed with water and painted over the background. At first, I was not sure this would work but after the painting dried it appeared further away and that is what I wanted. However, it was not exactly what I wanted, so I continued experimenting with different colored washes until I found one that worked. However, I believe it was culmination of colors that made the end result.

Add Dark Values To Create Depth


Add dark value of color to enhance depth

I continued adding thin dark paint to the lower part of the painting. I also created notches and grain in the wood railing giving it a more realistic look.


Continue Adding Layers Of Thin Paint

Add several thin layers


I continue blocking in colors with acrylic paint. At this stage my paint is watered down much like the consistency of Watercolor paint. As I continue to add layers the paint becomes heavier but not as thick as the paint right of the tube.

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Opposite Colors Attract Interest


The beginning of
"Passage Into Palisades"
Once the outline is complete the next step is deciding what colors to use. I like to chose colors opposite on the color wheel that reflect or enhance highlights. For instance, the hair I used a soft orange which creates depth when layering dark colors over the orange. With most my paintings I try several color variations until I am satisfied with the end result.


The Beginning Of "Passage Into Palisades"

Image outline
(Fig. 2)



I feel the most difficult part of beginning a project is choosing the right image. For me, I need to look at picture or an inspirational piece as a starting point. For this particular project, I chose a photo I took of my daughter while we were out hiking in the beautiful Mississippi Palisade Park. 

For a quick start I enlarged the original 8x10 photo into four 8x10 sections (Fig. 2) and placed together to form one large photo. Next, I used tracing paper to trace the outline of the image onto a 24x18 canvas. This allowed me to place the image proportionately without much fuss, plus it was quick and easy. Some call this cheating, I call it being efficient. 

Three Amigos

This painting began as a grey-scale in acrylic paint. Once completely dried I used water-soluble oil paint which gave move life to the subje...