Sunny Close-Up

Okay, so technically, this isn't the first painting I've ever done... I've painted on glass(or was it plastic?) and I've toyed with gouache back in high school. I painted on my own bedroom walls as a teen and painted on my younger cousin's walls later on(see [link] and [link]) but this is actually the very first painting I've done on an actual canvas...

It started out in March or April of this year. It was gorgeous outside and pretty warm compared to the days before this particular day. And I felt like drawing outside... While looking around for my drawing tools, I came upon this painting set my Dad bought me as a birthday gift months before. So, I changed my mind and decided to paint instead... So, I started to mount this tripod of a thing to hang the canvas on to get the hang of it. I don't know the technical term for it... The word escapes me... Anyway, this thing also has a drawer in which the paint is stored... Three different types of paint are in it: Watercolour, acrylic and oil.

Okay, I built this thing, now to take it outside... dang, it doesn't fit through the patio door when it's open... I don't feel like putting it back together... Aw heck, I'll just paint inside and keep the doors open to let in some sunshine and fresh air inside... Now, what to paint?

For some reason, a woman came in mind. Just some random woman from my imagination, no one famous, no one that I know. Just a feeling, a perception, a body, a mind... Am I making sense? What kind of clothes to put on her? Wait, no clothes... it just feels right for some reason.

Do I show full frontal nudity? Maybe next time...

What about the background? For some reason, all I could imagine behind her was a blur of greens.

Now that it's done, time to take a picture... Or two... Or three... I know the painting's not perfect but why can't I capture what I see? For some reason... I just can't get the painting right in these pictures... So, I took a lot of them... I hope you can see what I was hoping to recreate from the picture of my mind or something you like either way...

Unhappy with my interior pics, I decided to take the painting outside and take pictures there while it was sunny.

Enjoy,

~Guy H.L.

P.S. By the way, I used acrylic paint since I already used it in the past and knew it dried quickly. I've done a little bit of watercolours in the past and looking forward to trying out oil.