Friday, October 14, 2011

Birthday Brownie Points

My mother in-law's birthday is on November 1st, so to earn some brownie points I decided to paint her a picture. My usual rule is to never ever paint a picture as a gift for someone. Ever. When it comes to a painting or any sort of decoration for a home, you can't really give it to someone in case they hate it (Merry Christmas, you get socks!...unless its running socks. In that case, bring 'em on!) Instead of it being a gift it turns into a burden because now they feel they have to display it somewhere and its just a big old mess. I'd rather avoid that.

But, I decided to take a gamble this time. Originally, I had wanted to paint the island in Greece that she's from (Kefalonia), but I couldn't find any decent pics of it, so I settled for a pretty postcard.


Then on to the sketching. I didn't have to do a lot of sketching with this one because of the water and I never sketch out small flowers.



Then the fun part, painting sky and water. I looove doing this. I just spread a light sheen of water on the canvas, then squirt paint directly on it and swirl away with my brush until I'm happy with the results.


I decided to stipple the house and windows to give contrast to the water and make it seem closer to the observer. Also, I like giving the painting some texture. And ok, I just really love to stipple.


further along...

Last night, to the soundtrack my husband killing zombies (its guys' night) I finished! Now it just needs a coat of color-protectant and it's all set to be wrapped.



Score one for the daughter in-law!

3 comments:

  1. looks awesome, but there's only one problem: they were grubs, not zombies...

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  2. Love it! I hope your MIL loves it too and you get massive points. My MIL would be the one to flat out say she hates it and throw it in the basement. Yes, she's a prize.

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  3. Very nice. Your Disney work is amazing too!! I love to see the work of people who have true talent. My husband can draw pretty good too but never really made anything of it. NICE WORK and I am sure she will love it!!

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