Almost Aurora

And here is an adventurous attempt at painting the Northern Lights!  Otherwise known as Aurora. Apparently visible in the Netherlands back in May. we unfortunately missed it but we did come across some photos on-line depicting this amazing phenomenon.  And with all the myriad of stunning colors, I was naturally inspired to paint about it.  However, what was intended to be about the Aurora turned out to be anything but!  Nevertheless it came out a stunning alternative I am very happy about.  And how can I not include Little One enjoying herself surrounded by all the beauty?

The Background

For the background I had the idea of a marble effect combing shades of pink, violet and blue.  Paper was an A3 sheet from a pad of Canson’s Watercolor paper which I tore out and secured  the edges with masking tape to prevent warping.  Washes of acrylic inks in those shades, including the pearly ones, were applied with a soft wide brush, immediately followed by drops of isopropyl alcohol drops.  Unfortunately it didn’t turn out as I was hoping but by adding layer after layer of the same method, I eventually began to like what I created.  I figured I can also play around with the edges and corners of the paper with a differed color. Besides, the effects from the drops of the alcohol turned out to be rather cool.  Something from outer space maybe?

It’s Little One Again!

And now time to paint Little One!  With a white chalk pencil, I briefly sketched her before coloring with acrylic and gouache.  The face firstly with my usual combination of Titan Buff and Quinacridone Azo Nicket Gold acrylic liquid by Golden, followed by the hair using the leftover of the latter.  By combining  green, yellow and red, the rest of the hair was painted and so were the eyes by blending all the colors together.  Just experimenting with mixing colors!  And now for the outfit, I went for gouache this time; painted the dress with some Lamé effect using two pink shades of Turner’s Acryl Gouache.  The crown was then colored with Deep Gold.  At this point, I was able to figure out what to do with the edges and empty spaces, thus began tapping the areas with heavy body acrylic in Gold using scrunched up kitchen paper.  To enhance Little One a bit more, her outfit was lined with white Molotow paint pen.  

Time For Texture!

This was the sort of painting where I’d have so much fun playing around with glitter and sparkles!  At first I layered on some gold Izink Diamond glitter paint then tapped a bit of that on Little One’s crown.  Then some Ranger’s Stickles blue glitter gel around the background and some yellow and gold on the gold area to enhance the shine.  I especially liked the little gold stars from the glitter gel which added to the cuteness.  Finally Little One’s eyelashes were drawn on with some black Stickles glitter glue.  And now!

Although I was hoping to create something specifically about the Aurora, I am very pleased with how this painting turned out in the end.  The result of rhe background was too beautiful to throw away, and trying to rectify it could have worsened it and hence I accepted that we should take on another direction.  And I certainly had so much fun working with what I had!  Introducing Little One was also the icing to the cake, and I’m sure she too was comfortable in her own element.  So yes, I’m calling this piece Almost Aurora!