My latest commission is a painting of my friend's favorite vacation spot in St. Croix. Her husband suprised her with it. She loved sitting under this large tree watching the waves.
You can see the photo I had to work from below. If you hit play or click through the photos you can see how it took shape. Here is the process: First, I used the projector to align the photographic image on the canvas. I traced the lines to make sure I got the perspective right on the buildings. Next, I did an orange wash underneath to establish values and build a warm tone. Then, I added in the blues in the sky and started building the details in the houses.
Finally, I added some unique touches to it.
The fun thing about a painting is you can take a photograph and edit it. My client wanted me to take out the other chairs so that the focus would be on the two chairs they sat in, so I removed all but two and built up the contrast on the building behind them. He also wanted me to make it brighter. I was able to brighten up the yellow and warm up the painting to match some of the colors in their home. I also added a little trail of footprints from the chairs into the water.
I checked out photos of this location online and found some photos of how blue the ocean really is right there. This photo doesn't it justice. So I punched up the sky and the water to the teal blue of the ocean in the virgin islands and swirled the water to capture the motion of the gentle waves ebbing in and out.
Paintings are not meant to be reproductions of a photograph, you can easily print a photo any size you want. Paintings are meant to capture the feeling behind that moment in time. I don't want my paintings to be photo realistic. Seeing the brush strokes and the under-painting showing through gives a piece of work a sense of life and vitality. Every painting is something totally unique; there is a story behind the creation of each work, and a little piece of the artists heart too!
Do you have a favorite vacation photo that you would like turned into a piece of art? I would love to work on something special for you!
Thanks for joining my journey!
-Deborah King