Little Witch… A Halloween Painting

This painting, which I mentioned in this post, is from a reference in Ali Kay’s Fresh Paint VIP membership.

One of the perks of the VIP membership is getting seasonal reference images / classes. I did not “attend” the video class, just using the reference image.

I highlighted the black outfit with dioxazine purple (PV23). I dry-brushed the sides of the skirt to get a tulle effect (as the dress in the reference image appears to have some tulle layers).

What I would change were I to do paint this again — the trees and sunlight (substantially blurred in the ref image) as it’s too busy. The hat needs purple highlights; it looks like I painted black on black. AND I need to work on making hair more realistic!

Granny’s Flamingo Float… from Fresh Paint

I really liked the vivid colors in the reference image from Ali Kay‘s Fresh Paint class, but there are a few things I learned from this process.

First, I just loathe Phthalo Blue and Phthalo Green — both are way too intense, which just irritates the heck out of me. Plus, I just couldn’t get a good mix of the two for the swimming pool water. (Perhaps I’ll try Cobalt Teal next time, although it’s quite expensive.)

Second, I ruined a beautiful velvety canvas panel by using clear gesso on it after doing the trace. I won’t do that again — it was like painting on sandpaper.

Third, if I paint more figures I need to use a panel larger than 8×8 so I can get the detail properly painted. Once I’m more skilled, maybe I can go small, but right now, it felt like I needed a toothpick to paint the lady’s facial features. Ugh! Her left leg looks deformed at the ankle — I didn’t catch that until now — but her torso looks realistic.

I’m including the entire line-up of WIP photos below.

“Sledding Friends”… A Fresh Paint Lesson.. Calling it Done

This is the last of three cute kids-playing-in-the-snow painting lessons on Ali Kay‘s Fresh Paint site. This one is called “Sledding Friends” and it, too, is painted on 8×8 canvas. I toned it with Golden’s “India Yellow Hue” and matte medium. As with the “Building a Snowman” painting, I referred only to the reference photo, and not to Ali’s painting or her online video.

I think I prefer the India Yellow Hue to the Yellow Ochre for toning; it’s more mellow. (It is also much more expensive than Yellow Ochre, unfortunately.) The Golden Paints website states that it is a mixture of Benzimidazolone Yellow (PY 175), Nickel Azo (PY 150) and a Quinacridone Red (PR 206). Weirdly, it is “modern mixture replacing the pigment originally produced in the early 1800’s by collecting urine from oxen fed only mango leaves”. (!)

The outfit of the boy in front is painted with Anthraquinone Blue and Ultramarine Blue, tinted with white. The boy in back is painted with Burnt Umber Light, Mars Black, and white as necessary. The snow is tinted with the India Yellow Hue, and, in places, with Ultramarine Blue.

I painted the snow quite thickly, which was fun!

“Building a Snowman”… A Fresh Paint Lesson.. In Progress

This is a painting I’m doing on an toned-in-yellow-ochre 8×8 canvas that is one of three cute kids-playing-in-the-snow painting lessons on Ali Kay‘s Fresh Paint site. Unlike the “Rolling Snow” painting I just finished, I have not referred to Ali’s painting or to her video at all. I’m just using her reference photo.

Left to do is to finish the snowman, obviously, and I want to adjust the shape of its head. The girl’s jacket I’ll complete in a lighter brighter red than the red used for the creases and shadows. I had planned to do pink and white striped mittens; I’ve decided to make the mittens all pink.

The boy is basically done, but once I’ve got the snowman complete I will come back and layer more yellow on to the boy’s sleeves and collar, so it doesn’t get lost in the toned background. I may need to adjust the mitten color so it is more clearly a sky blue.

“Rolling Snow”… A Fresh Paint Lesson.. Calling it Done

Okay, it’s done! One thing I’m not totally satisfied with is that the darkest green of the outfit looks almost black. I’m not sure if it was my color choice (“Forest Green” — a premixed color — by Chroma Atelier), or if it’s because I had painted that value map with such a dark color.

It was an interesting experiment to follow along (more or less) with the painting lesson on Ali Kay‘s Fresh Paint site. Next up will be a painting of two kids building a snowman.

“Rolling Snow”… A Fresh Paint Lesson.. In Progress, pt 2

I changed my mind… I am, in fact, following along with cute kids-playing-in-the-snow painting lesson on Ali Kay‘s Fresh Paint site. The first step was to make a value map showing the dark and light areas. Then I did the snow and trees, and the snow — even if it looks white — is tinged with phthalo blue. (I’m actually using the Liquitex Soft Body “Light Blue Permanent” which is a pre-mixed combo of Phthalo Green, Phthalo Blue Green Shade and Titanium White. I’ve added more white to it. (As it almost gone, I’m also using Liquitex’s BASICS “Light Blue Permanent” which is the same color mix.)

“Rolling Snow”… A Fresh Paint Lesson.. In Progress

There are a couple of cute kids-playing-in-the-snow painting lessons on Ali Kay‘s Fresh Paint site. I’m going to do my own painting rather than follow along with Ali Kay, but one thing I noticed in her final painting that I liked was that the child and the distant background have what looks like a magenta undertone, while the snowy area has an orange undertone.

So, I’ve traced the provided 8×8 template on to an 8×8 canvas, and I’ve painted the magenta red, and the orange.