Happy Valentines Day (Happy Lunar New Year - Year of the Ox, and Family Day too on the 15th…phew!)

While i’m getting my first workshop/process video together, I thought i’d give you process shots as a preliminary view into my method.

Let me know your thoughts and comments in the comments section below!

This month’s tip, I discovered Sharpies as a way to reinforce linework during the addition of paint layers when lines may get smudged or eroded. There are also Posca pens and other paint pens that have stable acrylic pigments, but sharpies are quick, lay down well, and I don’t feel so precious about using them. Thanks for the tip Sam Walrod, and feel free to remind your art friends too!

From left to the right of the sequence, you’ll notice I started with a couple of thicker acrylic base layers, followed by ink and sharpie leaves drawn/painted on top. This step was repeated a couple times, from images 2-6. The initial board was toned with red acrylic paint.

I also used high flow and fluid acrylic paints in the 4th image for the table cloth, with some Sharpie patterning, then darkened it a bit with blue fluid acrylic to deepen the value range. I generally paint thick to thin and find fluid acrylics, high flow acrylics, and acrylic ink/india inks to allow for several layers without bulking up the painting (unless you want the texture of course).

The final two images show the finished painting (9”x12”x1.75”) cradled board on my easel and in my studio for some context.

My inspiration was a combination of memory, and Pinterest musings, specifically, a pot of basil. I liked the idea of combining pink and green as I had pink on my mind for Valentine’s Day. I also layered the pink leaves and vase with…red! This enriches the pink and adds a warm tone to it. Highly recommended. The yellows, oranges and siennas also complement the pink and red as I wanted to contrast warm tones with the cooler greens. A variety of filled and empty shapes are represented by several leaves and I added pattern details with stripes and spots on the ochre leaves.

I hope you enjoyed this short snapshot into my painting process, it’s all about layers, shapes and value arrangements. My muse as ever, is leaves. It’s still fresh off the easel and i’m thinking of names (feel free to suggest one!) Until the next blog post, have a wonderful Valentine’s Day, Happy Lunar New Year and Happy Family Day:)

Cheers,
Meghana