Alternative to wedding flowers..........

This is a post that I am very excited to blog about. My super stylish sister, Suzy, is getting married in approximately 4 weeks time....eekkk! The whole wedding is going to be a little alternative, with a rock and roll festival vibe. She has commissioned me to create two giant canvases with bouquets on them to have displayed in the hall where they are going to be married rather than having real flowers. This way the paintings will be a lasting memory of the day and give it a nice personal touch. They want it in a graffiti style. Sooooo, I've started experimenting today after receiving a big parcel of gorgeous spray paints in the post...yay! I have to admit I have never really used aerosols in my work before....gulp.....but that's what makes it so exciting! The actual canvases are about 100cm by 80cm, but this little canvas I am playing around on is about 30cm by 30cm.

The inspiration:
                                

 

First layer of paint on canvas, (acrylic) ....a little too blue for the final pieces, I think we were thinking more greeny grey.

Using the spray paint...This had to be done mega quickly as it was getting late and starting to get dark. It was really cool using it but I really need to buy a mask tomorrow as it stinks! Well, I kind of like the smell, but I know it's really bad for you and I could taste it afterwards....not good! Also you can see a very rough outline. I think I might have gone a bit overboard with the pink...what can I say, I love shocking pink!

First layer of paint to establish tonal areas:

And another photo using a different instagram filter:

Quite like how its developing, it has definitely been worth trying it out before starting the real ones! It only took a few hours to get it to this stage too which is a relief! (Suzanne if you see this blog.....this is the work at a very early stage and not how I envisage the final outcome!) It needs more drips and dribbles and obviously colour! The colours need to be a bit more pastel too, I think.

Finished DNA.....maybe?

"DNA" Oil on paper

After drinking a glass of vino quite quickly last night, I threw caution to the wind and slapped the paint on, I am much happier with this now, it's much closer to my original vision. I feel that I have learnt so much from this painting by seeing it through and I am excited about starting a new piece using what I have learnt. I may even contemplate entering it for the Coventry open....I hate rejection though!

Doodles, doodles, I love doodles.......

Today I enjoyed myself doodling, inspired by my lighthearted paint splattering doodles yesterday. It's so therapeutic and addictive but I also think it is really helpful at seeing your work from a new direction. After doodling these birds, I'd quite like to study painting and drawing these in more detail by getting some reference material.

Face over stripes = like!

Hand sketched below was drawn in the car on the way to a soft play-centre. Hands are something I want to sketch more regularly as they are so difficult to draw, and as they say, practise makes perfect.....or better at least!