Mermaids...

Last week was Mermaid week on the willowing course called "Mythical magical makings". I did two journal pages before starting on the larger painting. The person who was used as the inspiration for this week was Marc Chagall but I didn't like his surrealist style and really struggled with ideas for this one. I ended up reverting to my own style and the ideas flowed after that. I think I have to really like an artist to be able to copy their style.

The first page was to give me ideas for the large painting. I thought I might put a lot of fish or seashells around my mermaid so I drew a few different ones in my journal. I drew some bubbles which gave me an idea for the final painting.

We also had to do a whimsical mermaid. I like the childish look she has. Again I was trying out a  few ideas. I thought I might put sea horses into the large painting but after the mermaid was done I couldn't figure out where to put them.

The finished painting. I did a whole bunch of bubbles instead of the fish. The red paint is iridescent and shines when you walk past it. The background was done with splattered paint and glimmer mist sprays so it also sparkles in real life. The shading is more pronounced on the painting but the camera always seems to blend the colours more. I wish I could scan these big pictures instead but you still get the idea.