Back in the Studio – Healing through Art
After an arduous journey for my brother’s funeral, I’m back in the studio. It took some time to really feel like getting back to my art as I was emotionally exhausted. The studio kept calling and I finally immersed myself as best I could and found healing through art. I did get nearly finished with my next painting in the “Wine, Women, and Song” series. I call this one “Party Time.”
Party Time Painting
I started this painting with the goal of using the same process I have come to adopt for this series: acrylic washes, a charcoal sketch, stencils, collage, acrylic paints, and oils. I’m still trying to capture as all of the steps in the process, but sometimes get so caught up that I move to the next step without a photo. I made a video of how I collage that I will share.
Source Photo
I have been using Affinity Photo to create source photos and am feeling more comfortable with the program. Here’s the photo I created from two separate sources.
I wanted her to be holding a glass of wine, so I used my own hand for a reference.
This is about three steps into the process where you can see I have the acrylic washes, charcoal sketch, stencils, and started laying down the underpainting.
This shows the collage for the hair and more acrylic layers using transparent paints. I wanted to keep some of stencils showing through.
I decided to use collage for her necklace as well. I originally was going to keep her without the black shirt showing in the reference, but received feedback from the Mastery Program coaches that adding color would help the composition. I decided to go with more stenciling effect using a piece of Halloween lace and water-based spray paint. Some of the members of my coaching group commented how it looks like tattoos! I laid in the basic cloud shapes as well.
I added more to the cloud shapes and put some colorful hummingbirds in the background. I corrected the shape of her glasses and the size of the hand. This is now ready for a final layer of oil paint in selected areas.
Collage How-to
I decided to go bold and film a video on my collage process. This is a little over 8 minutes long, but if you have the time, please watch, and provide feedback. I’d like your opinion and let me know if you’d like to see more videos of how I create.
Check out the hair!
https://photos.app.goo.gl/ZLYxk9PyHgCQ4ZRE8
Takeaways
Art has helped me heal. I get lost in the process and forget my worries. I was able to see most all my extended family at my brother’s funeral and it was bittersweet.
Thank you for being here with me.
