I’m a newbie to the online marketplace so even though there’s a lot of trial and error happening over here, it’s fun to learn new things and fumble about a bit–it reminds me that everything is ‘figureoutable”.

This piece is called “Follow Your Heart”. I don’t have the metamorphosis from the very,very beginning, so I’m starting kind of in the middle (sawwy!) It has some collage elements as you can see below and I just felt like the colors weren’t gelling– the piece was still trying to find its way. My days can feel like that sometimes too: full of potential but I’m not sure where it’s going yet.

I added some more collage elements and a wash of color to bring it together a bit.  I think the reddish glow gave it a happier look and pulled the tones in from the corners.  A thin layer over things can make a big difference.

And then hey there!  A girl appears.  I created her by gesso-ing the canvas and colored her in with oil color sticks.  I’m still getting the hang of them, I’m not sure they’re my thing.  I had to get turpentine and remove the one eye because I screwed it up.  Oops.  Anyway, acrylics seem easier and I can layer better, but the verdict is still out because the oils give a softer hue.

She’s starting to take shape, I love the collage of her dress.  Turns out the oils didn’t work so well on this one so I switched to back acrylics for her face and hair.

Some fun with stamps and the sentiment (as well as some flowers) bring it together:

She makes me happy because she looks like a little angel.  We should all listen to our angels telling us to follow our heart everyday!  Life would be a lot easier, no?

Hope you enjoyed this peek behind the brush…