Not Landscape Abstract

Initially, I intended this to be a landscape. I wanted to practice making converging horizontal lines at the top to represent landscape off in the distance. Plastic wrap was lay over the green and red areas and black run under the wrap mixing the green and red. The mixing didn't happen as much as wanted. The darker bottom where the black was poured would represent the foreground and the lighter less contrast top would be the distance. I even gave the top a mauve wash, the colour of distant hills. I was really trying to give it 3D perspective.

Then I asked my friend what he thought of it, and he looked at it vertically. It really looks more interesting vertically than horizontal. So it's not a landscape now, and all that 3D perspective business is for not.

Work in progress

First did a sketch so I would remember perspective and keep the far away things narrow and the closer parts fat and juicy.

I started painting the far away bits of the tree, the backside of the trunk and the bushy leaf area. Then I painted the closer parts. I realized I should have painted the background first. So next time I'll do that. This is supposed to be a study for a larger project, so in that sense i've learned what to do differently on the big sheet.

Then I put the plastic wrap on the wet part and stood it up against a wall. I loaded my brush with water and applied the water above the painting so it would run down the wrinkles in the plastic wrap. Fingers are crossed, but will probably see something in need of a touch-up.

Gift

My plan is to blog all the stages of a painting. But this latest painting was pretty much done before i started the blog. I didn't document the beginning stages. This photo was the almost complete version.

The painting is a Christmas gift for my sister-in-law. I'm not entirely pleased with how it turned out. I'd have liked to make the top part of the tongue rounder than flat, and have the right ear higher on the head, and probably make the shape of the head a little rounder than oval. But it's supposed to be somewhat abstract and not necessarily immediately recognizable, so it will do as is. Next time i'll have to be sure i'm happy with the drawing before getting on with the painting.

In this painting i experimented with a couple ways of adding texture. In the tongue, i put down some pinks and blacks in wet paint, and then lay cellophane that was kind of wrinkly in the wet paint. I pulled the cellophane off when the paint was dry. I wish i hadn't put so much black in the mix and only used pink and white for the tongue.

To make the trees in the background, i lay the cellophane down and scooted several colours under it and then waited for the paint to dry before lifting off the wrap.

For the hair on the cheeks and the grass, i made some hard scratches on the paper with a pallet knife to represent individual hairs and blades of grass. I'm not entirely pleased with that either. Maybe i should try making lighter scratches and doing several layers of scratches and paint and let it dry between each application?

The final version differs from the earlier photo because i painted over the white fence with green grass paint and blended the trees with wet green paint as well. I didn't want the white fence to pop so much. I also added a layer of reddish paint to the body to match the colour of the head better.

Dianne marvelled at how much better it looks framed. I agree. Framing anything seems to make a huge improvement.