Anatomy Of A Painting

“There’s a way to do it better-find it.” ~Thomas Edison

I’m going to give you a step by step of a painting that I created.  I was inspired to try something different.  It started by choosing a black and white photo of which I found through Googling beach scenes.  I wasn’t going to copy, but used it for the skeleton to impose color. I decided to use a small format 8″ x 8″, since this essentially was my first experiment doing this. Here is the original Black and white photo.  Just a little note, the black and white reminded me of my mother, the finished painting ended up reminding me of me, but only realized this after completed the painting. I should have called it “Like Mother, Like Daughter”.  Let me know if you think I should change the title. 

I realized that I had an issue with the composition.  Since it was such a small painting and I wanted to keep it fresh and not overworked, I decided to use a trick using an iPad.  I take a photo of the painting and insert it in my “Brushes” app.  I then am able to manipulate the composition without a problem.  The advantage is I can take the stylus and by pressing it on the color it will match it exactly; no guessing.  I can also undo and redo at my request.  Below is the before and after.  The first image is the painting, the second is the iPad drawing.

The painting at the top is the resolved painting.  Have you ever used the iPad for problem solving or creativity?  I would love to hear your suggestions.

If you would like to purchase this painting please contact me at jvander51@msn.com or call (408)460-7237 Thank you!