MOM DON'T LOOK!! part 2

Really mom, don't ruin the surprise for yourself. It'll be better to see it completed and in person...

So for everyone who isn't my mother (most of you fit into this category; statistically speaking.) I've still been chugging along on that painting. It's been many hours but I'm getting very excited about where this is going.



































I covered the pale green that I didn't like by placing a very thing layer of sienna over the whole ground. I was waiting to try and see more of how tho flowers were going to look, but everytime I sat in front of the painting to work I would think to myself; "Man I wish that color was different." so I decided to go for it. I love the result, the three colors are much more harmonious now and it all looks very cohesive. It wasn't my plan, but I like the slight variations in the tone and color in the segments. I think it adds visual interest without taking away the attention. The light source is a bit wonky in the photos because I turned the canvas sideways to work on it. This way I could keep these large brush strokes moving in the same direction and hopefully make them less distracting for the image itself. The piece was too wet to re-rotate to it's original layout.


















The third bar is now in place. Again, it may have been too early to take this step, but I feel much more comfortable with it in place and just knowing where it's going to be. The color making up the bar on the right will also be repeated in the stems of the flowers to balance it out and provide movement.


















pb

MOM DON'T LOOK!!

I mean it mom, don't look at this post until I tell you!

OK, so for everyone else; I've been working on a painting for my mom for a couple weeks now. She recently re-did her living room and asked that I would do a painting to go over the couch using one of the photos she took of some orchids as a reference. I'm stoked! First off, let me tell you, this baby is HUGE! I chose to stretch my own canvas so I could pick whatever size I wanted, being limited only by how large of a canvas will fit into my car. The diagonal of the cargo area of my Pontiac Vibe measures 45 inches, so the canvas is 44 inches tall and 60 inches wide. I could use this thing as a raft one day! THAT BIG! It's incredibly exciting and daunting to tackle this project. the only draw back so far is that it takes forever to get anything done because it's just so darn big. I can't wait to see it hanging up in her living room!


I've been taking progress photos so you can track along with me as I work:

This is the thumb nail for there this project is going.

















After hours of gesso painting and repeated attempts to place the line work, I eventually caved and created a grid, which I then attempted to erase to do the painting.


















Let there be color!


































I'm not sure I like this middle section here. It look more like three pieces placed together rather then the darker green bars layered over the middle section. I wanted it to look more like a plaid by manipulating the transparency of the layers. They just look too disjointed right now.


















Starting to add in more colors and values.


















I'll post more pics when I've gotten some more significant work done on it.

pb.