Step by Step

Blind Artist Vision: blog by Stella De Genova

Summer is bursting and in full bloom.  We’re all busy, keeping up with family gatherings, gardening, and soaking up the sun.  It’s hard for me to find time to work on my art right now but I’ve been determined to accomplish at least a painting or two during this busy season.

Here are some step-by-step images of a painting I just finished.  It’s a spring/summer painting so, of couse, I painted some flowers from a bouquet I received from my husband.

Looking at flowers in a photo or in reality can be intimidating because there is so much detail, but I’m going to try to take a looser approach.

I have to start somewhere, so ... first, there is the underpainting, which tries to get some basic shapes in place and many times, I’ll start with complementary colors that will hopefully come through when I start layering more pastels.

This is what we call the ugly stage.  I’m layering more colors and getting a better idea of what I want to accomplish, but I have a long way to go.  At this stage, I’ve learned to be patient and not throw the whole thing out!

This image shows my painting almost completed, but not quite yet.  I keep looking at it for the next couple of days, tweaking throughout the day and thinking about what I can add to make it more interesting.

And here is the final painting!  I have refined some flowers and blurred others.  For final touches, I added some bright pinks and lime greens for a pop of color, highlights, and small details.  I continue to look at the painting for the rest of the day and then I sign it.  I’m already thinking of what’s to come next.

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