Serenade is one of the large acrylic paintings that I did this year. I have been painting a lot lately, though not all of my paintings are done on such a big size canvas. Anyway, let`s start with the beginning of the story.
Three months ago, I had a commission for a painting with vivid colours and musical theme. Once it was done, I uploaded it on my online art gallery page and made it available for prints.
There is was seen by another art lover who liked it and contacted me in order to get one commissioned. I was more than happy to do another large painting with the same theme. (Perhaps I will do couple of more on smaller canvases and have a total of 10 in this series - supposing that would help my portfolio?!)
You may have seen it in one of my previous post. If not, here it is in the image above. Maybe one of these days I will write more about it and illustrate the process.
Thus Jazz Night Out helped me get a new commission for a similar painting, Serenade, the one shown in this post.
The only difference was that this one had to have an additional thing in its composition, a butterfly. The butterfly was part of the love story of the couple that asked me to make the painting.
I first started by priming the canvas. Although my canvas was already pre-primed, I added one more layer of gesso on it and created different textures using wedges. It can save you from having some unexpected surprises on the long run.You can skip this step if you are in a hurry, but I recommend to do it. If you do not like texture on your canvas, don`t do it.
Once the gesso dried out, I sketched my painting on the canvas. Next I used a brush to outline the drawings. Then I added the first layer of colour for the background.
As I was working my way through the background layers, I felt something was missing from the composition. I couldn`t tell it exactly what it was, but something felt off.
That`s when I decided to take a break and put it away for a few days. Perfect time for a selfie with my work. ;0)
As you have seen in the photos above, the background went from yellow to orange and purple to primary red, scarlet and brown on the right side of the painting and from cerulean blue to phthalo, aqua teal, cobalt teal, and dark mineral blue on the left.
First layers of paint were applied with a brush and for the rest I used a dabbing sponge and my fingers.
As I was painting the details of the piano, I finally understood what was missing from my painting. The piano ribbon had to continue past the guitar. Thus I added some titanium white and painted it. When I was just about to start working on the piano`s keyboard, I thought they would look better if I twisted the ribbon.
The small area between the paino ribbon and the mandolin`s neck has seen several layers of colours until I was satisfied with the result. It made more sense to have it red, as it balanced a bit the composition.
For the butterfly I used a stencil and titanium white. Then I added blue paint on top and some blue glitter.
Later on I added a lighter shade of blue for contrast. Using a thin brush I painted the outlines and made the butterfly have a bit of texture. I let it dry for a week and a half and only then I varnished it. Some artists prefer to wait up to 4 weeks or even 6 before applying the varnish, to ensure the paint is completely dry.
I guess it depends on the thickness of the layers of paint you add on your painting.
Here are some other art related posts that you may enjoy reading:
WHAT MAKES ONE AN ARTIST?
RAW MINDFULNESS
CORONA CHAOS
LOST BOY, MAKING OF
BENEFICIAL EFFECTS OF DOODLING
JAMAICAN MAZE
THE WORLD IS MINE - MAKING OF
DRAGON STEPS, MAKING OF
THE POND - MAKING OF
FLUID ART
BLAZE - MAKING OF
VANITAS SERIES
LET YOUR INNER CHILD IGNITE YOUR CREATIVITY
UNDER THE BLUE -MAKING OF
DRAGON - MAKING OF
ART THERAPY, WHAT THE HECK IS THAT?
FUN WITH ACRYLICS
MAGICAL UNICORN- MAKING OF
MUSHROOM TABLE- DIY
OTHER PAINTINGS
WHAT SPARKS YOUR CREATIVITY?
check out my Saatchi online art gallery page
