Spiritually Kawaii

Today some intuitive mixed media painting but not following a class this time. I thought to see how I could integrate what I’ve been learning so far and create independently. Now it looks as if I’ve gained more confidence, getting more adventurous and taking more risks with experimenting. For one, my characters have started getting more elaborately dressed so colorfully. And today Little One is donned in a fancy head dress and a big robe!

The Background

I was in the mood to go for a huge A2 sized mixed media paper this time. The painting begins with a collage of Japanese language newspaper, tissues, paper napkins and even Christmas wrapping paper! Next I just piled on various swatches of colors and doodles using oil pastels, acrylic ink and paint and gouache till the paper was filled up so colorfully. So far so fun!

Painting Little One

I was immediately drawn to an empty space below some strips of collage and blocks of paint. There, I decided that the head could go there and painted one in with a blend of Titanium White and Quinacridone Nickel Azo Gold. After planning the outline with some charcoal pencil, a huge crown, big robe, spear, two trees and sun emerged. Negative space was then created using some Manganese Phtalo Blue acrylic paint. Looking great!

Getting There…

The eyes were drawn in first, and as I decided on a spiritual mood, I had Little One with closed eyes this time. After that I added the hair with some Molotow acrylic marker. The headdress was then better defined after which I glazed on a thin layer of Ultramarine Blue ink (Sennelier’s) on the higher part of the blue to redefine the darkness. I was indeed very happy with how the painting was turning out so far.

Finishing Touches

To finish off, I added patterned collages and spots of gouache on areas I felt could be replaced. The robe was further defined by tapping some metallic white paint on the edges and collar. Some glitter glue was traced on the eyes, and the sun was further enhanced with fluorescent yellow. For the headdress, I painted the crown gold and glued on some small bits of origami paper as collage. Then a pink sequin on the Third Eye. And now, I think I’m good to go!

And what fun that was! It was one of those paintings in which I was enthusiastically continuing on because I love how colorful it all is. The fancy patterns also bring a lot of energy to the piece. Although intuitive paintings like this are quite intensive, they do give a lot of satisfaction in the end. And here is a close up of the face, Little One certainly enjoyed dressing up the part!