Tuesday, July 20, 2010

How I do what I do #2...

So here is the second part of my how I do what I do tutorial...  the background.




For this background I am going to use my favourite background ('full moon' from the Vintage moon collection by Pink Paislee) I rip the edges rather than cutting them so they have a nice deckled look.



I then start painting over it deciding what to keep and what to white out with pebeo super covering white as I go.  About now you are probably thinking why on earth does she even bother to have a background paper at all, she has covered it in paint!  Your not the only one thinking this the owner of the shop where I buy my paper from wonders the exact same thing.  But you can see subtle little bits showing through, which I like.


Once I have the right look I am wanting for the background I then add a little detail in coloured pencil around the edges (this is a slightly closer up view of the top section of the background).



The next step is to put in a horizon line, I often make the sky part of the painting a third of the whole piece... it feel good to my eyes.  I use the Pebbles Inc chalk pastels to colour the bottom part of the painting and then once it is covered I dampen a rag and rub the chalk pastel in and some of it off (sometimes I also rub a little of the paint off as well so you can see a bit more of the background paper showing through, but you have to be careful not to use too much water and not to rub too hard as you can wreck the paper underneath).  This technique picks up a lot of the texture that you don't see before adding the chalk pastel.  I discovered this by accident one day when I spilt some water over the chalk pastel and tried to wipe it off.  It turned out to be one of those happy accidents that life throws at you now and again.


Then I blue tack the girl in place so I can work behind her if I need to...  penciling in her wings and adding a few other little details with pencil and white pen.  I find with this process that having the girl separate from the background is a good thing, if she doesn't suit her background I can do another one for her or vise versa... and also if I make a mistake with either one the other is still okay. I have tried painting the face right onto the background but it just wasn't successful for me.


(without your wings I'd be gone)

Once all the detail are done I glue her in place with a Pritt glue stick and add any finishing touches, like the little bit on top of her hat...and that is pretty much how I do it.

Note for Kelly... I have added a little about her dress paper in the previous post, sorry but there wasn't that much information about the name of the paper only that it was produced by K&Company in a pack with others.


As a special thank you to all my blog readers for your kind words and support, I am going to give one of these prints away for free if you order another print in my shop over the next week... if you type "your wings" in the comments to seller box, I will send this print free along with your order.  After next week I will add it to my Etsy shop http://www.sleepandhersisters.etsy.com, so keep an eye out for it.

Thanks again and I really hope this tutorial was helpful in some way.

16 comments:

softearthart said...

Oh it was indeed helpful, so, so interesting to see your creative process, cheers Marie

danasparkle said...

so very excellent. i received the print i ordered it is also so truly gorgeous i may just have to order more.... mmm
thanks for the insight and inspiration. oceans of gratitude to you.
*

Šolanje na domu-Waldorf said...

Thanks for sharing your process. I do my dolls seperate as well to some extent. :) She turned out beautiful.

Micki Wilde said...

So interesting and so different to how I do my paintings, I love your process though, it's very unusual I think :)

Micki x

Jenny said...

Fabulous post Katherine and gorgeous print...thanks so much for sharing the next steps :)
Jenny

Škorčica said...

Oh, these pastel colours you use on your paintings are so nice - so relaxing for eyes :)

Diane said...

What a great post--thank you so much for sharing your process.

Anonymous said...

I loved seeing how you make your wonderful paintings. Thanks for sharing. So nice of you.

Anonymous said...

Fabulous post! I really enjoyed seeing your process - almost as good as being right there. ♥

scrapwordsmom said...

It was helpful and so peaceful. Love her!

Jacqueline said...

This is really inspiring and i truely love your process! Thanks so much for sharing it here with us! Have a lovely merry happy day and love to you!

jacqueline
http://www.jqlinesocuteithurts.typepad.com/

Mel @ Wildflower said...

Who knew! You have given me a whole new appreciation of your lovely girls :)

Jenny said...

Hi Katherine! Your artwork is BEAUTIFUL! I love it! I received a card featuring your art as part of a giveaway I won and I just wrote about it on my blog! I have included a link to your blog as well :o) Love your paintings! Jennifer

Heather B. said...

It's always interesting to see "how it's made" and you certainly have a very unique process. Thanks for sharing with us.

Sissy Sparrows said...

thank you for sharing you tutorial... I know how precious it is sharing some of your techniques...so thankyou.

My sister and I over coffee one morning about a year ago spent quite an in depth conversation discussing your work and possible techniques.

So now we know.

Denise Daffara said...

what a beautiful kind hearted lovely thing to do, share that with us.

thank you, it's gorgeous,


xx Denise