Finished – Untitled (for now) Woman

I finished it - finally! I wrote a WIP post way back in April (!) and am happy to say she's finally finished.

Some of the WIP:

(where I left off on the last post-following is later in the day after fixing her nose)

I anguished over where to go from just about the point I left her in late April. I knew I wanted paper flowers either in her hair or representing her hair, but kept putting off making the decision. I was afraid of "ruining" what I'd started.

So I made paper flowers.

Lots of paper flowers.

And after determining that I did NOT want her whole head covered in them, came up with a pleasing arrangement, took a photo so I'd know what I'd liked...

Then set about painting her hair. I also decided to add some stenciled, if illegible, words to the background. I just wanted to break things up a bit, add some more texture and interest, pull in more of the mixed media feel I was going for.

The inspiration photo I used showed some sort of barrette in her hair, so I fashioned one for my girl out of wire and a paper flower. I also added a wire "earring" to help tie things together.

The flower "eye" is made from light modeling paste and a flower stencil. I'm very pleased with how she came out even though I got very stuck for a long time. I needed to let go of feeling like I was going to "ruin" it or make a mistake. As Donna Downey says, "Forward motion." Just keep moving forward and the right things will emerge.

Finished — "Life"

So I actually named this one. I don't think I've titled any of my pieces, mostly because I have no idea what to call them, but this just came to me so I went with it.

"Life"
20" x 16" acrylic on canvas
Started 4/15/12; Finished 7/1/12

As with virtually all of my paintings, I wasn't sure how this was going to turn out, but I love it. It ended up even better than I'd hoped and I'm so pleased with the final results. I branched out a bit from my normal pallet, throwing some bold yellows and some red in the mix, not to mention going with a landscape orientation. Very much in a happy place with this piece.

Here are some detail shots. At the end, I have a short video showing the evolution of the piece. Enjoy!

Finished - Tulips

Here is the finished painting. I posted a WIP about a month ago. Now I just need to wrap it up to give to my sister for her birthday. Which was April 6. Oops. Better late than never, right?

I added some white drips, removed a leaf, added another elsewhere (felt like I had "bunny ears" on the previously posted version), some detail throughout, splatters - that sort of thing.

Here's a side-by-side.



I'm very happy with the finished painting. I hope my sister agrees!