Silly me, I am still anxious and stressed that my on-line shopping packages may not arrive in time before my holidays. Some safely came to today, whilst others I’m still waiting impatiently. I really don’t like feeling like this at all. Just keep hoping and praying. So I thought I’d paint about me praying that all goes well. It was whilst painting, though, that I realised how selfish I’ve been!
The horrendous forest fire in Australia has been deeply affecting me. So much devastation and destruction. People losing their homes, livelihood, even lives. And those poor animals! I think of those kangaroos and koala bears and start crying. I can’t believe the koalas are in the verge of extinction! Naturally, I’ve donated some money to support their rescue and preservation. And then with this “prayers” theme, I diverted my attention from those silly shopping items to the more important things in the world.
Background Preparation
I started off by scribbling with some oil pastels “Praying, Let’s Pray, Prayers” on a page from my Strathmore Mixed Media sketchpad. Then splashed on and spread with my fingers some acrylic inks in various yellows and oranges, namely fluorescent ones before gluing on bits from some Japanese-language newspaper. This was followed by spreading more ink, this time in purples. For acrylic ink, I love those by Sennelier, closely followed by Daler & Rowney which also has pearlescent shades.
Having found some random scraps of old origami paper, I glued some on and then dotted on some white gesso with some bubble wrap. Looks like I’m ready to paint my subjects!
Little One and Teddy
At this point, I decided to add Teddy along with Little One praying. I was thinking of those poor koala bears! Both of them are very sad and anxiously praying that more get saved. A rough sketch was painted on using Old Holland acrylic in Iridescent Bronze. Lately, I’ve been in a metallic mood again. And I must say I’m rather proud of myself for being able to draw straight onto the paper without having to make an outline in pencil first. It’s always a hit and miss with impromptu drawing but looks like I was quite lucky here!
Colour Them Cute
Now ready to fill them all in! Obsessed with metallics, I used Old Holland’s Iridescent Yellow for the sun, and a blend of Old Holland’s Iridescent Jade and Golden’s Heavy Body paint in Light Green for the dress. Teddy was painted in Amsterdam Acrylic’s Light Rose. For Little One’s face and hands, I went for Jane Davenport’s Portrait Paint. All the paints were mixed with some Matte Medium for some transparency. Just to add, I had accidentally painted the hands green at first, and when I went over them in skin-colour, I made some scratches with a toothpick whilst the paint was wet so the green could show through. How cool does that look!
Fancy Touches
Now here comes the fun part! Just added some doodles around the painting to finish it off. With some Sennelier Abstract 3D Liner in gold, fluorescent yellow and fluorescent pink, I randomly scribbled around the sun, the background and Little One’s hair and eyes. Some more details were finally added on the dress and also Teddy using a white acrylic marker by Molotow And now, here it all is!
I’m very pleased how this piece turned out. The background turned out beautifully, and I love how the colours blend in without being too overwhelming. Rather than black, the metallic bronze was a great alternative for outlining as black can be too strong. And the mood is still vivid and yet serene. More importantly, I feel good about myself for painting this piece. My prayers are with those affected by the fires in Australia. May more animals be rescued and the wildlife be restored soon!
My Kawaii Quarter 