Painting a Portrait

Creating a body of work without any specific goal in mind (ie. for sale or exhibit) is so good for developing and growing skills and confidence.  I'm so glad that in spite of my initial trepidation I created the 52 WEEKS::Heroes series last year and that it has been bringing me joy beyond measure...both during the project and since its completion.  I was able to hone my method and simplify how I do things, which is something I want to share in my upcoming fall online workshop and it's really nice to be able to create something personal and full of meaning for someone else.

One of my favorite things to do in my work is to create a colourful background.  Not only does it reduce the anxiety of working on a blank canvas, but it also creates an amazing ground to paint over, allowing (in this case) warm tones to shine through the finished piece.  I always begin with the underpainting of  pattern and colour, followed by the image transfer and then a couple of layers of darks in the shadow areas.  Finally I layer lighter tones and highlights.  This method of working has increased my love of the process.