Mud Puddle

digital

 This idea came from a couple photos and some imagination.

The photo below is what happens when the adults in the family are sitting out on the back patio, enjoying themselves, and not paying attention the the boys, who are playing merely 30 feet away but ON THE OTHER SIDE of the truck, and out of our view. I was asked to check on them and make sure that Tux (the one on the left) wasn't getting dirty. Uh . . .

 

The next photo was taken at Shawnee Prairie, here in Greenville, Ohio. 

This handsome devil actually seemed to pose for me. 

He's waiting patiently as a larger, nicer enclosure is being built for him.

I thought it would be fun to merge the two photos.

I sent the result to my kids (the parents of these troublesome youngsters),

and my son's response was, "where was I when this happened?!" Haha!

Then, I decided to draw it.

Step One

The background I had added to the merged photo made it look like they were sitting at the edge of a stream. I had lost the mud-puddle look. So I worked on trying to bring that back.

Step Two

I changed the angle of the turtle to give the drawing a bit more energy.

Step Three

I thought I was done here, and let it sit for a couple weeks. You don't see a lot of difference in the finished product at the top of the post, but I lightened the background just a bit more, and darkened the turtle. Also, made it look like he was dripping in mud and not just water. 

As always, thanks for stopping by!

Birdbath - Number 5 of 5

Day 7 of oil painting - Birdbath 8 x 10

Here is the last session of the painting! Is it my favorite painting I've ever done? No. But it was fun. My favorite part was that splash of water!

Each session was about an hour, and sharing with you kept me motivated to finish. It is always a good exercise for me to work more from my imagination as I am always so dependent on photos. I used to strive for photo-realism in my work, and to an extent I still do. But, if I can bring a little more color, a little more atmosphere, a little more fun with the paint application (like use of the palette knife), I am happier with my work.

At least I have an image to share with my husband next spring, in case he wants to surprise me again.

This last image is because I can't help myself.  I dropped it into Procreate on my iPad to get a little more of that sparkle! I just punched up the darks and lights for more contrast.

Thanks for stopping by!

Birdbath - Number 4 of ?

 

Day 5 of oil painting

Today I worked mostly on the foreground. I began painting the grass, I filled in more of the flowers, and look! - the happy tree leaves are showing up on the right hand side. 

Day 6 of oil painting

Once again, I was thinking about the painting in the evening, and a basic rule that I wasn't implementing came to me - atmosphere. In the top image the background grass in the upper right was just as bright as the grass in the foreground. Today, I worked on pushing it back by applying a thin film of light blue-gray. That will also, ultimately, help to pop out and bring forward the happy Japanese Maple Tree branches on the right.

Next time I work on this piece, I'm hoping to finish. I'll add more leaves and detail to the branches on the right, and yes. . . add the splashes of water!