Red Exotic Flower

To win this painting click here.

I must admit, I have been having lots of fun painting flowers.  My favorite color is red and I really wanted to paint a red elegant flower.

I first started, as always with a light pencil sketch.

I then continued with the background on the left and eventually started painting the petals.  I felt like blocking in the bigger parts of the paintings would give "life" to the painting.

I then continued working from the outside in on the right side of the canvas.

Finally I began painting the inside of the flower.  Here it wasn't so important to me to follow the sketch.  I just painted where I thought would look better with each color.

Here is the completed painting.

To win this painting click here.

Metamorphosis

Metamorphosis was inspired by the same photoshoot that inspired The Goddess from my previous post (see image below).  The series is about a woman out in nature who ends up becoming one with nature; where nature takes over her.  To me its more than human meets nature.  Its more like a change that happens within us when we encounter something in our lives that we obsess over and ends up consuming us.  In some situations it is a good thing and therefore it turns into a beautiful thing, in others, however, the reverse is true.



The Goddess (Available for sale at katvazquez.com)

I first started picking out the canvas.  I stretch my own canvas so this meant really thinking about the stretcher bars.  I chose this long canvas  because I feel like it makes it look more icononic.  After stretching the canvas and priming it, I lightly sketched out the image on to the canvas with a pencil.  I then started working in sections like I usually do.  I felt like defining the shoulder area and face would dictate the feel for the whole painting.  This area, I feel, is the most important as it sets the mood of the entire painting.

Metamorphosis in progress

I then continued to define the face.  The face is what most people look at first and so it was imperative the mood I desired the viewers to see was "written" all over it.

Metamorphosis in progress

I knew the flowers, butterflies, and birds were going to be what communicates part of the message here, so I left that for the end and focused instead on the garment wrapped around the model.  I used highlights and shadows to give it shape and volume.

Metamorphosis in progress

Finally my focus was on the flowers, butterflies, bird, and background.  When working from photographs, artists must be mindful that a camera does not see the same way the eye sees in the moment the photograph was captured.  The flowers in the photograph were not very defined and therefore I took a look at it for overall color and then put it down.  I worked on the flowers without looking at a photograph.  I solely focused on the colors, shape, and making the petals stand out.  I painted thickly on the canvas and mixed the colors right on the canvas.



Metamorphosis in the studio (Available for sale at katvazquez.com)



This painting along with others will be exhibited at my first solo show titled Life.  It will be held at Tulsa Girls Art School in Tulsa, OK from 12/3/15 until 1/2/16.  There will be an opening reception on 12/3/15 from 6pm until 8pm.  Hope to see you there.