June 04, 2013

Behind the scenes of Belle Paris

Petite Fille, Grande Paris


 I was recently inspired by a few of my favorite things (Paris, balloons, pretty colors) and had a sweet little scene in mind that I wanted to put onto canvas.


I started with a Naples yellow underpainting to give everything a warm glow. 



Next I added in the sky and water base



And then followed with the darker trees. 



Then I started to define the figure and started to test out some colors for the balloons



And finally added final details. 




The little girl was inspired by this little gem (yes, that's me... holding an Alf doll. Classic.)


Even on a well-planned painting, there can be a lot of trial and error. Once it's on canvas, it might not say exactly what you want it to, or things might not pop enough, or certain colors might pop too much and steal too much focus. Unlike with watercolors, acrylics allow you to keep adding layers of change until everything comes together.




Paris is a lovely and magical place for a girl of any age, even if you lose a few balloons along the way.


Painting for sale in my shop here.

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