Mixed Media on canvas
70cm x 100cm
Just in time for easter holidays, I finished this commission for a super lady in Helsinki. I will be taking it to her in person, and I can’t wait! I was inspired by a previous colorful flowery painting, just loooove that red and pink dot pattern. I had some pointers form the customer, she wanted edelweiss flowers, and also liked the red/pink pattern. These are flowers form the alps, and I somehow found it har d to just make the edelweiss these colors, as they are a more subtle white. So, after having added the three large white flowers, I realized the image was not finished. It needed something more. So, i kept searching for pink alpine flowers, and found some. I think they contrast nicely with the large edelweiss in this composition
What did I learn
I started with pencil sketches of Edelweiss from online photos. I then marked it with black pen, as black and white drawing, when the composition looked balanced. Once in full size and color on the large canvas it looked too empty though. A bit boring. I found some pink flowers online, that also grows in the alps. I added the pink flowers, but it’s hard to experiment directly on the canvas, once you already have a composition there. So, I made a mockup in photoshop, and here i tried out different variations to the composition, even testing out some shading. This worked great, and adding the finishing details to the final painting went super smooth after this. So, I want to work more focused on the sketches, also in color first, and not rely on canvas experimentation. It would also be useful to experiment with texture and color on a separate canvas, to see effects, and work things out freely, without being constrained by it being the finished piece.
Adding white where i was to have collage made the shapes easy to trace, and this part of the project super smooth and efficient. Also really brings out the color in the collage paper.