Following once again Tracy Verdugo’s Story Painting class! Now on Chapter Three Lesson 3, and here is the second part. In my last blog on creating thumbnails in When Worlds Collide, I outlined my ideas and what inspired me to sketch them. The ideas since developed and now comes my painting!
The Choice of Sketch
Referring to some photos from my traveling, ideas were sketched as thumbnails. I actually knew what I wanted in the paintings but I wanted to experiment with other scenarios. Hence the first choice was the first of the four thumbnail sketches!
The Beginning
Canson’s Aquarelle paper (300 gsm) in A3 size was used for this piece. We first paint the background with a thick brush using brisk strokes. Like Tracy, I used Quinacridone Nickel Azo Gold liquid acrylic by Golden. Once dry, the composition and subjects were roughly painted in white. Quite an interesting and effective method which is quite a change from using dark pencils. Something to keep in mind and do more often!
Painting the Rest
Once again we work in layers. I used acrylic inks in a variety of green and teal shades. One of my favorite was Titan Green Pale which gives an icy appearance, almost pastel-like, looking even a bit greyish on top of this background. First the trees and the house followed by the details on the animals. The dark color is the Payne’s Grey. I also decided to glaze a thin layer of Antelope Brown for the background behind the trees.
Making it all Pretty
With the details of the animals further added with gel pens, I began painting the pretty flowers in. A variety of pink Acryla gouache as well as some Lemon Yellow was used for the flowers, cat’s leash and owl’s crown. Seeing that more greenery can be added, I layered colors more and more. Shades like Permanent Green, Phtalo Green and Emerald Green were used as well as the Titan Green Pale. I added the white flowers on the house for fun, and dotted in some white around the scene. And now… !
What a kawaii painting of an exotic paradise! The combination of my travels in Asia and my appreciation of pretty flowers and cute animals. I don’t get to paint birds and boathouses much, and here I had another opportunity for something different, once again going beyond my comfort zone. What adventurous lesson this was. Thank you again, Tracy, for making painting so fun!
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My Kawaii Quarter 