When I painted Emily, I photographed the painting at various stages up to completion. I want to begin sharing with you how I approach my work. Most of the time I paint on linen but sometimes I use masonite or linen on a board. Emily was painted in oil on canvas. I worked from a photograph I took of my niece at Sanibel Island. I really like the dark blue abstract background the photograph picked up and was lucky enough to catch her unposed without a care in the world.
Stage I: The drawing and block in.
Stage II: I continue to block loosely covering the whole canvas.
Stage III: I started to add more detail to the face and hair. More interesting brush strokes and stronger color was added to dark blue area in the background.
Stage
IV: More detail is added to Emily. The background and sand are kept abstract but as you can see I continued to work in more color. A palette knife was used to apply paint to the background area.
Finished painting: I remember struggling with the bucket. It was added last. This was a joy to paint. I think I caught the moment of a little girl playing at the beach.
