You are a Badass - a process of a painting.
Happy Holidays everyone! I cannot believe it is almost Christmas! My most favorite time of the year! I finished up this painting the other day while listening to Jen Sincero's audiobook "You are a Badass". I personally loved the book but I feel like it is one of those that you either love or hate. So many 5 and 1 star reviews!
I love painting with all types of mediums so I thought it would be fun to have you follow along and see how the process goes. Maybe you will be inspired to paint your own painting!
As you can see below, I started off by wanting to paint a little girl holding a dog. (I am so emotional about pet dogs and cats lately, maybe because of the holidays? Or maybe that means I am getting old and will forever be spending my evenings watching You Tube videos of kitten and puppies?).
I always begin by adding a background in various colors of whatever I am feeling that day. This day was a blue, black and purple kind of day as I was depressed at how much rain we are getting in the Pacific Northwest this year. I decided to turn it around, have a positive attitude and added in a sun and green grass. I almost always lay down the figure in chalk. So far I have only added acrylic paint and chalk to this canvas.
I tried darkening the dog and added in the orange and absolutely hated it! At this point I wanted to smear black paint over the whole thing but had to remember that ALL PAINTINGS GO THROUGH AN UGLY POINT. Every. Single. One. Of. Them.
***THIS IS THE TIME TO SHINE PEOPLE.....JUST KEEP GOING, AND YOU CAN BREAK THROUGH THIS PROCESS.
It took me years to realize this. Just keep going, and you can fix it! Never be afraid to paint over something, sometimes mistakes are the best thing to ever happen! Some of my worst paintings have become my most favorite, all from big fat mistakes!
I decided that I wasn't feeling the dog at all, it wasn't looking like a dog, more like a monkey teddy bear? Who knows, I just moved on and began painting over that part of the canvas.
As I listened along to my audio book, I seriously started thinking I was a Badass! Ha! I smeared paint all over the place, and added a crown to my head (or should I say her head? These are always little portraits of me and things that I am working on, but I then change their hair color, hah!) I added in some paints pens on her dress, and carved in some stars. The crown made from painted paper and then glued on.
Here is the finished layer before I added varnish. I think she turned out adorable. (and a bit of a badass.)
So as you can see here, I just kept going and adding layers until I liked it. At this point I also colored in some areas with oil pastels. When it comes to mixed media, there are no rules! Just use what makes you happy! I hope this inspires you to try some mixed media layers, and more importantly, remember to just keep going!
You can find this painting for sale over here in my ETSY shop!
Happy Creating!
XOXO,
Carla
