Sunday, July 20, 2008

Illustration Friday - 'Enough'

How do we know when we've added enough to a body of work? When do we decide a piece has 'said' enough of what we set out to say, ie. what inspired us to create it? For this week's IF prompt, I thought I'd share a WIP - or rather a finished piece.....at least I think I'm done with it.

My inspiration came from my recent fascination with all things 'prairie' or 'ranch' themed and my love of contemporary folk art pieces. I've also been dreaming of living a simpler life, breathing fresh clean air, having more modest possessions, buying organic & earth friendly products, etc. I came across a wonderful magazine last week, "Mary Janes Farm" which focuses on organic lifestyles - I love it!!

Anyhow, I'm working on a small set of paintings, this is #1. I snapped pics along the way and decided to post them as I love seeing the progression of a piece and thoroughly enjoy it when other artist's do the same on their blogs.......


step 1 - foundation for bkgd and main subject

Step 2 & 3 - added a camisole and changed a lot at this point: softened her coloring, changed the sky tone, added some puffy clouds as well as a simple landscape w/Shaker-style house.


"A Simple Life", acrylic on stretched canvas, 10x10

Step 4 - brought her hair more in balance, added the branch and bird & added more rosy color to her cheeks.

If you've made it this far, thanks for taking the time. I hope you enjoyed seeing my creative process...which is sometimes, I remind myself, simply enough :>

5 comments:

neilornstein said...

John Singer Sergeant said tat you need 2 peaople to make art. One to paint and the second to hit the first one over the head before they go to far and ruin the piece.

INDIGENE said...

Thank you for sharing your process! I love seeing other artists' processes, too! I too, want a simpler healthy lifestyle. It's nice to see a kindred spirit! Lovely job!

www.indigeneartforms.blogspot.com

studio lolo said...

Lovely painting Laura. Really soft and sweet. You took the words right out of my mouth. All I've been saying for months now is how I want a simpler life :)

atomicvelvetsigh said...

love the simplicity.. and reminds me of my long to live a simple life too.. i had my fair share of complicated things already.. *sigh*

Mixed Media Martyr said...

Neat to see your image emerge when we don't know what your vision for the painting is. Thanks for sharing.