Have you ever had an idea that consumed a good deal of your thoughts? You know, the kind of idea that won't go away until you act upon it. I admit I have these kind of ideas a lot. I guess it goes with the territory or the environment of my creative space.
For over a week I've been focused on an image, a photo of a honu ( sea turtle ). I played with this photo in a new app I have on my iPhone called Enlight. At first it was just a fun way to pass time because I was bored. But the more I played with the tools on Enlight the more I was liking the results.
For over a week I've been focused on an image, a photo of a honu ( sea turtle ). I played with this photo in a new app I have on my iPhone called Enlight. At first it was just a fun way to pass time because I was bored. But the more I played with the tools on Enlight the more I was liking the results.
Here is the photo I stared with.
This is the final results from playing with the photo app. This design stuck in my head for a week. I kept thinking it would look really cool as a painting. As soon as I had some free time I started planning on how I would start the painting.
I began by doing an abstract underpainting on a 10x10 canvas, using burnt sienna, cooper, green and yellow ocher. Once that dried I wanted to add texture, something to match the background of my altered photo. I came up with the idea to use an old netted body scrub thingy. ( see photo below )
I began by doing an abstract underpainting on a 10x10 canvas, using burnt sienna, cooper, green and yellow ocher. Once that dried I wanted to add texture, something to match the background of my altered photo. I came up with the idea to use an old netted body scrub thingy. ( see photo below )
I cut a piece off of the netting and laid it onto the canvas. I used a warm gray and a yellow gray lightened with white to paint over the netting. Pulling the netting off created the result I was looking for. Once I was satisfied with the background I let it set a few days. Mainly because I ran out of play time. This break also allowed me to ponder the next step, painting the honu.
I ended up painting the honu bigger then I planned. I began with his shell and head, then moved onto the flippers. I used all the same colors I used for the underpainting for the honu. The results of my finished painting was better then I imagined.
I'm going to do this painting again with a 20x20 canvas. I plan on making the honu smaller and I'll add the corner details from my concept image. I think that added detail will give the painting the Hawaiian feel I'm going for.
Thank you for reading my blog. I hope you enjoyed it. Please feel free to comment or ask questions below and share it with your friends on facebook and twitter.
I'm going to do this painting again with a 20x20 canvas. I plan on making the honu smaller and I'll add the corner details from my concept image. I think that added detail will give the painting the Hawaiian feel I'm going for.
Thank you for reading my blog. I hope you enjoyed it. Please feel free to comment or ask questions below and share it with your friends on facebook and twitter.
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