Borderlands 2 started

Whoops, I thought I'd updated this - here's the next step in this painting, the head started.


I started with the overall colour of the head, trying to get the tones right, then continued down to the shoulders:

Next, I started pouncing the shade of colour on top, to achieve the speckled effect. This was fun - very de-stressing if you're feeling a bit tense, but definitely something to do with an old paint brush rather than a newer one. I used a slightly worn brush that I cut down a bit so it was more like a stencil brush, then loaded as little paint on as possible. I then pounced all over the painting:

I really enjoyed doing this one, and had to stop myself from continuing as I needed to make dinner!

Borderlands 2 pencil outline

My last post explained about the Secret Santa I'm in, and that I was painting an image from Borderlands 2. 

Here's the pencil outline:

If I could work out how to rotate the image, I would!

So far, it looks fairly straight forward - the key thing will be matching the pouncing on the head to the source image, as its quite detailed. I like detailed stuff though, sometimes I have to be careful I don't focus too much on the detail, as its tempting to keep on going!

Borderlands 2

This was for my Secret Santee - for the last 6 years I've taken part in an online Secret Santa, and have only once not received a gift from a Santa, and that year I was Easter Bunnied instead.

Each year I'm assigned a Santee and am given their IRL name as well as their forum name, their IRL address and their email.

I then spend a few weeks virtually stalking them, until I've worked out what painting they may like. One year I was particularly successful at stalking, found my Santee's sister and mum on FB, and messaged them about him. I found out all sorts of things - one, importantly that he was gluten free, so I made some gluten free biscuits for him.

I tend to send a load of English chocolate as well, as so far my Santee has always been from outside the UK, and let's be honest, we do make the best chocolate!

After a successful stalk, I was advised that he really likes Borderlands 2, so with some help, I narrowed the choice down to 3 images, then went with the one whose colours I liked the most:

The first image really interested me, the colours were lovely; the second filled me with dread because of all the straight lines, although I love the image; the character image bothered me, as I'd be removing the guns, which would change the images.

In the end, I decided to go with the first image, as the colours were just so lovely.

I'll update over the next few days.

Samsara is finished!

At last, I've bought a new SD Card Reader, so I can upload the photos of the finished painting.

Here it is:

One day I'll be able to take straight photos that capture the whole canvas - clearly the day I took these wasn't that day!

Most of the painting:

Close up left - you will see I added decoration to the walls and around the window - the commissioner asked if I could. I'm so sorry these photos are crooked, I have others I took on my iPad, but they're not a true reflection of the colours I used, and are a bit blurry. I'll add them at the end so at least you can see the whole painting:

Close up right, showing a little more detailing on the archway and some lit candles that I was asked to include:

Here's the iPad photos, don't say I didn't warn you! The colours are really off, almost like I've used a yellow filter. The camera photos are accurate:

Next up will be a painting from Borderlands 2.

Even more Samsara done

Once I started the figures, I had a discussion with the commissioner about how the sa-ilu (Dreamer) would look. I tried out a few different figures on paper, then cut them out and attached them to the canvas using my putty rubber. You may notice that I've painted over the background - where I'd originally placed the sa-ilu.

Version 1 - I found out that both men and women Sikhs wear turbans, and the sa-ilu (Dreamer) has not been identified as a man or woman, so I wanted to keep that detail difficult to determine.

Version 2 - In this one, I tried to hide the features with a veil, but didn't think it was as successful:

Version 3 - This one was a different character again, with a different type of veil - I was trying to achieve an effect that looked like tuille:

I had an interesting discussion with the commissioner, and we agreed on a composite character - he liked the second veil, but prefered the colours and stance of the first character. He also wanted the sa-ilu to have a more dominant role in the painting, so I suggested making that figure larger.


More in the next couple of days.

Samsara figures started

Next up, I painted the Nawab and chai shop owner. I also added another layer of blue to the rug and then painted in the edges and fringe:


Close-up left

Close-up right:

Whole image:

Throughout the process I kept emailing my commissioner to make sure he was happy with the progress I was making, and if there was anything else I needed to think about/include in the painting.