Not Yet Spring?

I’m back now after a little break! Just been incredibly busy with work and travelling and planning to set aside more time to get creative again. As the days get longer with more daylight, it ought to be easier but the Spring months in the Netherlands has nonetheless been a bit strange this year. It’s almost mid-April but we have been cursed with lots of rain and chilly temperatures. Little One is also a bit disappointed as she was looking forward to spending more time in the garden and enjoy her flowers. To cheer herself up, she decided to dress up a bit and show you her new frock and a golden crown on her head to remind herself she’s on top of things whatever it takes!

The Start

And waste not want not. The painting is actually developed from a page from Canson’s Mixed Media paper (300 gsm) on which I have been wiping off excess paint or testing and mixing colors. Over time, the blobs and the splotches come handy for recreating! As you can see, I already knew what I was going to paint, and hence the head and hair of Little One roughly scribbled on!

Further Developments

Layers of paint and bits of collage paper like tissues and wrapping paper were incorporated on this palette. Whilst I thought a bit of black would be an interesting experiment amid the bright colors, I found it was too intensive for the painting so tapped some fluorescent red on top and around to play down the darkness a bit. Some grey was then introduced to create some unity between the black and the colors. Now that’s better!

Once I had an idea about composition, I set about sketching Little One with a dark charcoal pencil before painting the background. A mixture of Ultramarine Blue Liquid acrylic (by Golden) and Primary Cyan paint for the sky and Cadmium Yellow Lemon Hue by Sennelier for the ground. Some negative space was further created for the crown. The eyes were then painted with a blend of green and brown. More volume added on the hair. Getting there!

Making Her Pretty

Decided to paint the crown gold after all but left some of the blue from the layers beneath for some effect. Some Evergreen acrylic paint by Rangers was incorporated in the grass area. Then I had a bit of a play around with various texture tools such as 3D paint, glitter glue and gel and pearlescent white rather than the usual titanium white. A cute Hello Kitty sticker was then stuck on to enhance the cuteness of the painting. And here we are!

It has been some time since painting mixed media, and I forgot how fun it all is! I’d definitely do another one soon. What makes it especially fulfilling is when being able to recreate with unused paint so nothing is wasted. As I begin to repeat that same process, I look forward to churning out another one! And now, doesn’t Little One look ever so sweet in her new frock? We hope the vibrant colors will cheer us all up during this drab April…