Just over a week ago I went into the studio and enjoyed one of those {quite rare, for me} times where a painting just flows out. Sometimes creativity is a struggle and a slog, and sometimes it’s delicious and easy. Obviously you can’t force the delicious and easy times, but you can encourage them by doing your creative thing more often. 🙂
Anyway, I haven’t done a post following the process of a painting for a while, so here she is, at various stages along the journey. I call her Lila. No idea why, I just think it suits her. Apologies for the blurring in some of the photos; I tend to snap them quickly so as not to lose momentum. I also can’t always be trusted not to get sidetracked by Instagram so speed is of the essence. 😉
On a background of playfully applied colours, I started mapping her in with acrylic inks.
Pushing back the background a little to start to define her shape, and starting to add in the colours of her flower headdress and clothing.
Starting to define her face a little and building up the layers of her clothing
More details and drips
Still persevering with her face and hand {I am dreadful at hands so decided to let it be a suggestion of a hand, rather than an attempt at realism}. Also enjoying the drips and how they became part of her headdress.
More or less complete. It’s SO easy to overwork details rather than let them stay loose and expressive, but I think the balance of her loose clothing and the floral headdress are working nicely with the more careful detail of her facial features.
She was very popular when I shared her online, and sold almost immediately! Yay! I am always so happy when my paintings find a home where they’ll be loved.
‘Lila’ // Acrylic on canvas // Tara Leaver
i am not surprised it sold fast. I loved it from the second you posted. Thanks for sharing her evolution xx
Deb thank you so much! <3
I love it when you show your process and the evolution of your paintings. She’s beautiful!
Congratulations on the sale.
Thank you Virginia! I’ve been meaning to do more of these as I got a bit out of the habit. So there will be more!
Lovely Tara! Any hints on how to get that wafts background ?
Thank you Sandy! Not sure if that’s a typo? But I made the background by just layering up the paint in colours I liked with consciously varied marks and directions, and then put in a layer of gesso over while it was still drying so it blended it bit. Hope that helps!