Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Commission Piece Finished!

Pollinators Diptych

A friend of my husband's contacted me last month about creating a couple of paintings for her baby twin girls' bedroom. I love doing art for kids, so I jumped at the opportunity!

She was able to give me a lot of great information from which I could work. Things like: the colors she was looking for (pinks, greens, and purples, with touches of yellow and white), and a couple of photos of the existing decor in the girls' room. She also expressed a lot of interest in the style of art from my fire hydrant- so more illustrative and cartoony rather than realistic. I had a great time painting the hydrant (taking a break from my usual style), and knew I'd have fun doing something similar again!

Starting with the background blends. You can see my digital rendering on the computer screen behind me...

Surprisingly the paintings didn't go as quickly as I had hoped- it turns out I had to do a lot of double or even triple coats with the paint I was using. I also noticed that when I'm painting something in my usual way, like a big flower, I can be more messy and no one is going to know :) I blend the colors and then go over and over them with watery coats of paint to perfect the blend. It's a very, VERY forgiving process! When you've got precise outlines and shapes you're working with, you don't have as much wiggle room. It wasn't a bad thing, just different, and now I have a better understanding of how long things will take if I embark on one of these kinds of projects again.


2 comments:

Doris Sturm said...

Oh, Samantha, those two paintings are sooooo pretty. Just perfect for twin girls. I love the delicate colors and I know the busy shapes will give their eyes plenty to look at. Perfect!

Love,
Doris :-)

Samantha G said...

Thank you!! :)