I had no idea when I broke out my paints just exactly what I would paint but I thought this time I would include a person/subject. Below are the steps that ensued.
First I played around with color, putting some random washes as a background. Then I sketched in the girl with a light wash on her outfit just to give me a feel for the composition. Then I laid in a coat of Golden's Heavy Gel Medium over the outfit making swirls to follow the drape of her skirt and texturizing her top with a piece of vintage lace. I also went outside and picked some Bleeding Heart leaves, painted them white and used them like stamps across the top. On the bottom I added some opaque white flakes for a 'magical meadow' feel.
I decided I didn't like the white circles (bubbles) so blocked them out with more of the leaf prints. I think Golden's Pyrrole Red is one of the most powerful and beautiful colors so that was my choice for her outfit, just blocking in the color.
More washes over the top knocking back the white leaf stampings a bit. Here I've also added some shading to her skin and clothes as well as a brilliant bronze metallic paint on the ruffles of her skirt.
More overall white shapes stenciled in on the top made me think of some pressed Hydrangea blossoms that I'd had for a long time. They were rather brownish so I painted them with a whitewash and laid them across the top to see how I'd like them.
Here I've glued down the Hydrangea blossoms and added some crimson and blue washes across the top.
To fill it out and give it a feel of an arbor I've added some green leaves and flowers in green. Lots more definition in her face, body and outfit.
Here I've painted the flowers white with blue centers and I've added some berries to balance out the color red.
This is (I think) the finished piece with much more shading/highlighting on her face, hair and body as well as her clothes and a shadow beneath her. A bit more purple to level out the values and of course lots of ferns done with acrylic inks. Of course you can't see the shiny metallic or the textures in the painting but there are many which I think makes it so much more interesting.
Any thoughts on a title?
Best...
Canace
