MagpieMagic

Recently there was a feature on RedBubble showing the way people create their art. It made me think about how I create my art.

Normally, it all starts with an idea. I sketch the idea, add a background, which is usually textured either with one of my textures, someone else’s textures or a pattern and mostly with a combination of all or some of them. Then, I start painting the different parts of the image, often going back to the background to adjust the colours or textures.

Mostly, I use a very restricted colour palette consisting of three colours plus all the shades inbetween and black and white. With a series like the birds (Tete-a-Tete,Panier Avec L’Oiseau) I create a colour palette to be used for the whole series.

Once the image is almost there, I often add textures over the foreground and sometimes lighting, and not to forget my ‘leaf frames’. The leaves for the frames are photos that I have taken specifically for this purpose and then manipulated with filters to get the texture/density and contrast I am after.

This is how I mostly work, all very organised, but it doesn’t always work that way – Perdu, for example – started with the background. For some reason, it was important that the background was just like that. Don’t ask why! It was one of those paintings that was more difficult to get right than others. I knew what ‘feeling’ I wanted to portrait but there was no defined image in my head:

It started off with a dummy and a red dress. The red dress went, as it didn’t feel right and was replaced with the camisole.

The top of the image had vines with several different types of leaves at the beginning and ended up with just dried up gnarled vines.

At some point there was a small Grecian bird bath that contained the spindle, measuring tape and scissors, but that went too.

The ravens were a big thing for me and it took longer to actually start them than drawing them. I love ravens and others of that species, so it was very important for me to get them right.

Other images start and stop rather than being painted in one go. I’ve started the final two images in the Birds series, but one is 2/3 there and not going anywhere, the fourth is partially sketched and still changing in my head. The angel was a quick image from conceptualisation to finish – all there in my head and easy to get ‘on paper’.

At various times I have about 3 or 4 images on the go, finishing them as feels right.

It’s all good fun… :-)

How do you create your art?