Beginning of March (finally!) - Another Negative Painting Tutorial!

Hello my friend, and how are you doing this fine (though rainy) day? I hope that, like me, you are looking forward to the lengthening of days, the melting of snow, and the return of the birds that is all March! The weather here the last week or so has been a lot milder than expected and that was a refreshing change from the miserable cold we've been experiencing the past month (there's even been sunshine!).

All that changed with a brief spell of snow and winter cold this past weekend, just in time for my eldest's first winter camping experience with her Girl Guide group. As you can imagine I spent the weekend steeped in simmering anxiety - she's never been away for so long or so far before, and in the cold and snow no less - but my fears were completely unfounded as she returned home with all the bits she left with (minus one hat) and had an absolute blast.

Over the last few weeks I've been working on a painting that was inspired by a photo taken by Jonathan Tucker for a contest in UpHere magazine. His picture was of an ice cavern inside an iceberg. When I saw it in the magazine, even with the very small image provided, I was blown away with the depth of the blues and the way the light glowed all around. I absolutely had to try painting it! My intention was not to perfectly replicate Jonathan's photo, but to see if I could recreate the feeling his photo inspired in me, these are the steps I took:

First I started with thumbnail sketches. I wanted to make sure that specific pieces were inside the frame. I also added tone with shading so I could lead the eye where I wanted it to be in the image.

I chose my colours carefully. These were blues, greens and purples that, to me, were more jewel-like and had a range of intensity. I used Winsor & Newton's Winsor blue, Winsor green, and Indigo plus DaVinci's Prussian blue, Violet, and Phthalo green. I start with a wet-in-wet wash and vaguely layout the shapes and tones where they will be needed.

Working with the colours I start working wet-on-dry in the negative, that is on the shadows of the objects, to better define them. I follow both my thumbnail sketch and the photo reference.

I keep working, mostly wet-on-dry with some dry brushing, with this first layer of colour, always in the negative, all around the painting.

I realize some texture might help to show the rocky nature of the bottom-centre section and add some salt. I've also stared a second layer of wet-on-dry to darken up the front areas.

Continuing with wet-on-dry and dry brush layering in the negative parts of the painting to further enhance the objects or define their characters. This is the final piece and I'm pleased with how it's turned out. I think I managed to convey depth while also keeping the overall luminosity of the ice and snow. 

I should probably have a name for this painting but at the moment all I can think of is "Blue" which doesn't seem descriptive enough. Oh well. On several occasions I was very nervous working on this piece. The beginning stages are easiest because you can change them as you go, but once you start cutting into a shape you are more-or-less committed so you better get it right the first time! It's really cool to see the differences when you compare the first wash with the final piece too!

As well as painting, I'm also still working on vector art tutorials in Adobe Illustrator. This one is by Nataliya Dolotko with EnvatoTuts+ and you can click here to see it. I've always wanted to make up a set like this and it was so much fun! It helps that the characters are cute too! I showed this to my eldest and she said "I like it. Are you going to do girls too?", ha ha, so now I guess I should look into that!

Anyway, to explain the set, yes I made up everything you see on the image, including the background, and then I put some pieces together to make the four boys you see here. I haven't selected my next tutorial just yet but it's likely going to be in the same style, can you blame me?

My version of the character set by Nataliya Dolotko.

This week I'm switching things up a bit by taking a class through Sketchbook Skool. If you haven't heard of it it's a teaching website for people (many of whom aren't trained artists) who want to learn to be more creative, learn to draw, try out different media, etc. It was founded (and is still run by) Danny Gregory, who has written a few books on the subject of introducing art to those afraid of doing it wrong or badly.

I read one of his books many years ago when my eldest was just starting to toddle. I hadn't drawn or done anything creative in years and his book really helped me to not only get back into it but to also be a little more confident in myself. Ultimately his book helped me to get here, so I'm really looking forward to taking this class! The course is Seeing and it runs for 6 weeks, so you can expect to see my progress as I go along.

And that's it for this post! I hope you have a great first few weeks in March. My mantra for the month is "simplify" and I will be doing my best to uncomplicate my life and thought processes, I think everyone will appreciate it!

Have a good one my friend!

Until next time,

Mandy

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