Thoughtful Accumulation

 Kaggelvuur 

60 x 90 cm  |  Acrylic on Canvas

Detail

Well I finished this kid a month ago, I just neglected to blog about him! Super proud of how this painting came out, I was genuinely suuuper nervous about it. When you've painted a particular object a couple of times, you learn what to do to make it pop; a highlight somewhere, an improvised glint of light, there are little details that make magic. And I didn't know how to make magic with a fire. There's no prior knowledge of shapes or lighting you can fall back on, you just have to look and look some more. An excellent exercise for a painter!

But what really made this experience was the client. Elzeth is the most uplifting person I've ever worked with! She sent me bi-weekly emails just to tell me how excited she was, and how amazing this painting is going to be, and how much I rock. It's fantastic to get emails telling you sincerely how awesome you are! 
It's not something you can fake or force, but having a good relationship with your client really makes the process so much more enjoyable.

Complementary Candy | 60 x 50 cm | Acrylic on Canvas

And I finally finished this painting as well! 
(after about 12 background colour changes, elaborate shadows, simplified shadows, no shadows.. ) 

It was an exercise in layout, and I think that was successful, the style is less detailed than normal, mostly because my photo was a little over-exposed, but also it didn't seem to want more detail, I kept adding and then painting it out again, eventually just deciding to allow it to be different! It has such a presence though, I think it'll really shine when it finds a home.