Hello everyone,
Wow it has been too long. I have been trying to keep up with my blog posts, but my book Samson’s Gift has been taking over my life!
I am so excited it is finally completed.
I have also had some extra time to paint more than just sheep! It has been a relief.
This piece, Ornamental Cabbage, was a very challenging painting in acrylic.
I had started out with a heavy patterned texture under the gesso. This was not the wisest move, as the painting itself was very complicated.
Learning from this, I have decided to have more texture on simpler paintings.
I’ll let you know how this works after I have time to try it out. J
Ornamental Cabbage has many layers and frills. I had to draw over the painting several times with my wash pencil as I frequently got lost in the details, which kept me organized.
The nice thing about using a wash pencil is you can wash the lines off with a wet paper towel if you don’t need them anymore. During the process of painting this piece, I started wondering why I wanted to paint it.
This question helped me realize what I was missing within the painting.
It became apparent that connecting the big leaves around the cabbage was their strength and made the painting work as a whole. I worked carefully on that and then it became a painting.
I also used some glazing (a thin transparent colored layer) to push areas forward and backward.
If you have the chance to journey to the Uptown Gallery in Fargo, I have 18 originals on display for my solo exhibition. I think you would enjoy the show, this piece is included!
Ellen
