A wedding gift

After scoring my "new" art supplies, I was itching to make a painting. Some good friends of mine were  getting married in a couple of days, so why not make a painting as a gift? Sounds exciting!! It also sounds nerve wracking!!! What if they don't like it? Will they feel obligated to display it in their home out of duty?? These are the kinds of negative thoughts that entered my head, and I know that these thoughts enter the minds of many, many other artists. The only way to get over our fears to is face them. So I went for it and hoped for the best!!

Enter the ominous blank canvas. Where to begin? The wedding colors were fuchsia and gray, so knew the basic color scheme that I wanted.

I recently picked up a color wheel to learn about color combinations, so I checked to see what colors complimented pink. It said yellow-green, yellow and green... but now that I look at the wheel I think I was one off... oh well!!

I love using the liquitex inks and dripping them down the canvas. I can't figure out another way to create paint drips. If you have any suggestions, let me know!

I started adding texture with circles and shelf liner.

Added more paint... some sort of squiggly plant at the bottom (don't ask me why!)... experimented with hearts and flowers.

I knew what I wanted the silhouette to be, so I sketched it onto the canvas with a graphite pencil.

Next I started outlining the people in grays and pinks. I also added 3 hearts for the 3 kids that are part of their family.

More pink! I want more pink!!! Trees too! Because she likes trees!! At this point I kept adding and adding and sometime covering up what I added. Mixed media is all about seeing what works... about trying whatever comes over you (hence the squiggly plant thingie)... and acrylic paint is very forgiving in the sense that if you don't like something, you can cover it on up.

Here is the painting, wrapped and ready to go! Another artist gave me the tip about using cellophane to wrap it and to add a cute little bow. I think this is perfect because it adds a layer of protection while still being able to view the finished product. A friend at the wedding saw the painting on the gift table and asked if I had made it. I was surprised that she knew it was from me, but she said it was my style. Haha! I have a style!!! Awesome!!