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. 😉

Lila 1

On a background of playfully applied colours, I started mapping her in with acrylic inks.

Lila 2

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.

Lila 3

Starting to define her face a little and building up the layers of her clothing

Lila 4

More details and drips

Lila 5

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.

Lila 6

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 / Tara Leaver

‘Lila’ // Acrylic on canvas // Tara Leaver

 

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