Christmas Candies step 1

This is the full painting and below is detail of the parts I have started painting.

I have finally started on this painting. There were a lot of issues up to this point of the process. I have a panoramic size frame I wanted to use (34 x 11") but it didn't have a glass. I also received an acid free gluing system for Christmas and wanted to try it. So, I used lighter weight (140 lb) paper and glued it onto mat board to make a heavier weight painting surface. My plan was to use acrylic medium to "varnish" it at the end eliminating the need for glass. I can see the gluing process will take more practise because there are small areas of bubbled paper. I also now realise that most of the paper was going to be left white and I will have to experiment to see how that looks with the acrylic medium on it.

In the meantime, I went ahead and drew out the candies from a photo I took and started painting a grouping of three on the end. I am having fun with the painting part because it isn't often you can use artificial looking colours like Hookers green and pthalo blue straight in a painting.

Suzi finished

This one is finished and framed. I am not happy with the whiskers but will do them differently next time I do a cat. This photo is a little darker than the painting.

Tonight I am going to try and get the next painting drawn out. It will be of Christmas candies.

Suzi step 5

I am at the fun stage of this painting - doing all the corrections in value and fixing the details. All the largest part of the painting is done. I've learned that using masking fluid for the whiskers doesn't work well... they were way too thick. I'm trying to correct them. I also have some small corrections to do in the overall values. I should finish later today.

Suzi step 4

I continued to darken the values all over the fur and worked some more on her eyes. I have to let it dry thoroughly before I can do more later today.

Suzi step 3

I have started the eyes and laying in the areas of colour on her body. I also added an ultramarine blue wash to the background.

Suzi step 2

I did a lot of correcting on the drawing. Projecting an image helps me compose it and put down landmarks for positioning, but it usually messes up perspective and the details. So it took me an hour of drawing from the ref photo to correct it before I laid down the first wash in the background. If you know my work you will realize that the background will get much darker. :) Actually, the whole painting will be very much in shadow so this wash is just to block off the position of the cat so I can see what I'm doing next. The yellow you see on the eye highlights and a few whiskers is masking fluid but I'll take that off the whiskers before the next wash. I just needed to get an idea of where they were going.

New painting at last - Suzi step 1

It has been quite the hiatus from painting! Life kept getting in the way. But I have to start painting in all my free time to get new work to display at my show the beginning of March.

This is Suzi step 1. It is quickly drawn out using the projector right now but I now have to go back and use the ref image to correct everything and add other things. It is 11 x18" (I am painting to fit frames I already own) on Fabriano Artistico cold press 300lb paper. I won't be able to work more on it today as I am nightshift but I'll try and add step 2 tomorrow.

I am also learning how to use a new camera I bought myself at the after Christmas specials. It is a Canon G11 and I love it so far but I haven't even finished reading the instruction manual.