I actually had a heck of a time trying to figure out what the subject of my next painting would be. I searched and searched through many photos, and just couldn't find anything that moved me. As Dean, my painting instructor, says, "Not all great photos make a great painting". Some photos simply wouldn't translate well to a good painting.
I realized that I had received (thankfully) lots of great feedback on my latest "Pool" painting. I thought it might be a good idea to seek out another piece with a pool in it. It may not be as provocative as the first painting, but at least it would be in line as a reasonable series together.
I dug up a photo from three years ago. We went to Puerto Vallarta to celebrate my 40th Birthday. I took this photo of my sister wearing my colorful sunhat at the pool. I love the colors in this photo, and played with the cropping/composition and came up with this:
original photo
I brought it to Dean today, and happily, he agreed that it would make a good painting. (I had emailed him several photos of ideas earlier in the week, and he had basically nixed them all! I love that he tells me the truth!)
I toned the canvas with a bluish/grey, drew in the grid lines, then did a quick sketch of the outline of the painting.
drawing sketched out on the canvas
I spent some time mixing my colors to be a good representation, without worrying about being too absolute. I then spent about 1-1/2 hours filling the canvas, which I think it turning out well so far. No surprise, but mixing my colors before filling in the canvas is really key.
So, here's where I am after the first session. There's still plenty to be done, but I'm happy with how it is starting off. Always exciting to fill in the canvas and getting an idea of what's to come!
Session One
PS: the faint diagonal lines in the bottom two photos are an element of the taking of the photos, and not in the painting/canvas.
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