This is a new project I'm working on: Lemurs! I visited Jungle Cat World (close to Toronto) back in May 2017. They offer the option of getting up close and personal with a select group of animals which you can choose from. There was a family of lemurs on that list so I chose them along with others. What a great experience! We were able to feed this family some fruit while they jumped on our shoulders and we pet them. The mother was nursing twin babies (awwww!!!) called pups. Here are some progression shots of the lemur painting.
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Welcome back! In part 3 of this series, you can see that I've added a lot more detail to the eye. I do this in layers, adding the lines you can see in the iris and then going over it with more colour and shading. I've painted shapes and trenches of the eyelid and used the same multiple layers technique. You can also see that I'm blocking in the scales underneath the eye with white so that the colours won't get lost in the dark background. The scales to the left of the eye are starting to have more substance and depth to them. There are many many scales in this painting. The key to making them look realistic is to have them follow the wrinkles and curves of the reptile. They have a pattern to them and it almost looks like chainmail. Getting closer to done in this picture, but still not quite there. I've added additional scales and painted layers over them all more than once. I've also scumbled some Payne's gray into the crevices to give the reptile some shadows and bring her to life. The nose has some highlights, making it pop against the dramatic black background, which is why I decided to go for the darker background in this case.
This started the way that all paintings do: as an empty canvas. Or in my case; Masonite. I cut the board to size: 22 x 28. I did some research first to get the closest standard size to what the customer wanted. Custom sizes can get pricey for framing, so if you want to save some money, standard sizes are the way to go. I made sure to sand off the rough edges that sawing this board created. As I've stated before in my "Process" series, I painted 3 layers of GAC-100 (an acrylic polymer) on each side of the board. Each side to prevent warping, and also prevent oils and whatnot from seeping through the paint years down the line. A trick I've learned from various artists to save some time, is to use a hairdryer between layers. Handy! I was going to do a light coloured background, however, I changed my mind and did a final layer of black gesso. I then proceeded to sponge Ivory black to give it a slightly textured look. Stay tuned for more on the making of "Cachou"! This is a new painting I'm working on. I took pictures of love birds at a pet store and I just loved their bright vivacious colours. I decided to try my hand at them. They're originally from Africa, I was surprised to discover when I did more research on them. More to come!
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ALLEZ DANS LES COULISSES
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