Recently I took on a really big project. I will be selling my art at a craft fair next weekend! I was so excited to enter. I will be sharing a table with one of my best friends and we're both really looking forward to it. It's been a lot of hard work getting everything together in time. It's not easy to prepare prints, do some crafting, and paint new work while also working 40 hours a week and driving an hour to work each way. But... somehow I've been able to manage. I also decided in late April that I would take up a new project which I'm about to share with you now.
I've always been fascinated with nature. Recently I decided to put that fascination to work and I created a series of eight different flower illustrations.
Baby blue eyes, Anemone
Rose, Peony
Poppy, Dahlia
Pansy, Sunflower
To be honest, creating these pieces was really difficult for me, mostly because of my time constrictions. I had to create an entire series from start to finish, scan them, order prints, receive the prints, and package them all in just a month and a half. It was crazy! But worth it. The flowers were all really enjoyable to paint.
I sketched them out in sets of two or three, and built up two or three paintings at one time. These were my first three sketches for peony, poppy, and anemone. I chose my flowers based off of how they would all look as a whole, as well as how they would look using the technique I was painting with. I wanted to have a wide variety of colors, but also needed to make sure one didn't stand out too much compared to others.
All the sketches were done to size of the final piece. I sketched them all out on tracing paper (just because I like the way it looks), and then transferred them to watercolor paper using a light table. I never sketch anything directly on the final paper. Planning should always be done on separate paper to avoid lots of eraser and pencil markings on the final piece! I always use blue painter's tape to make borders.
After I transfer the sketch, I paint the background first. I always think of my paintings in layers. The part of the image that appears to be the furthest back should be painted before anything else, and in this case (and most cases), the background is painted first. Here's an example of my final sketch vs. the final painting in progress.
Following along with my layering method, the next painted layer are the stems and the leaves. Since the petals of the flower appear to be the most forward, they are the last part that I will paint.
And then I take off the painter's tape and photograph them (usually with some sort of crystal) for you all to see! I love taking time to make nice photographs of my pieces since sometimes that's the only way some people can view my work. Being in art school was nice because you always had an audience for every piece you created for class. Since I am no longer a student (and haven't been for a while now!) I always try to take nice photos so I am able to show everyone. This is a completely unedited photo before I would post it to social media, featuring one of my lovely selenite crystals.
And here's some bonus photos!
I tried to pull as many references from life as I possibly could! Here are my two favorite reference photos that I took.
And I think that will be all for now! I want to try my hardest to post again before my show. I love making blog posts to have a detailed documentation of what I do for my records, as well as to share with others.
I hope you enjoyed reading! Have a great day!
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