Transformation

 

Transformation

I've had in mind for several years now to make a poinsettia painting to hang up for the holiday season, the last week of December I finally decided to give it a try. I have a favorite photo of mine from January 2013, the winter we spent in Dresden, Germany. Yes, that is my suitcase in the photo.

Brilliant color lingering on... January 26, 2013

 

I chose a 20x20 inch canvas and several days later I had a pretty good painting, but I wasn't happy with the shadow color behind the poinsettia. I had tried various color mixes, but the result kept feeling so drab and flat, it really bothered me.

"After Party"

I was so annoyed that I used some flat white gesso and just covered up all that grey. It looked better to me but I didn't want to leave bare gesso like that, plus I didn't like that I couldn't solve this problem!

 

"After Party in White"

 

Looking for ideas, I watched some acrylic painting videos on YouTube. I finally found inspiration from the artist Ali Kay, she always makes a vivid underpainting in a complementary color, so I decided to give her strategy a try...

"After Party on Fire"

 

 Wowza! Very fiery, but I was pleased that my overall design still looked good even in orange.

"After Party in Purple"

 

I really liked how the purple grey I painted the background was warmed by that intense orange underneath. Plus, I left the brush strokes more visible to add some lively energy to the scene.  I liked the warmth so much, I thought I would try some more!

"After Party - Awkward Moment!"

Yikes! This was a very unappealing step and I moved on as quickly as I could from this seriously awkward stage.

 

"After Party in Progress"

  

This time, I'm not certain the orange changed the blue table that much and I felt a bit discouraged that I had wasted my time! 

After a break, I reminded myself that while repainting the table I had reshaped the bottom leaves and by adding more of the bright green where the sun light was bouncing off the leaves it improved the illusion of depth.

The painting isn't quite done yet, but I wanted to share how learning from other artists and taking a creative risk can get you unstuck on a project.

Happy creating!

>^-^<

Tina

Ali Kay's wonderful "Holiday Lights" paint along video. This is the first painting video I watched of hers that inspired me to try a different solution to my painting problem. Thanks Ali Kay!