Design and Drawing Completed
This is the 1st painting that I have painted for myself, I have a specific area in my lounge which needed a painting of some sort. Following on from my 2 previous African scene paintings, I wanted to paint village where my character lived.
I decided on using 5 canvases, these were made especially to fit the area in my lounge. I have never attempted such a large painting, thankfully my remap engineer friend Peter assisted me with making a special mount to enable me to mount all the different sections together.
I was fortunate to draw the painting on a special mount, the pieces of paperwork stuck together (as you can see) and working on all of the scene to get the drawing accurate. I felt I had included lots of points of interest and this was now ready for tracing onto canvas.
Under Painting Complete
Once the canvas was under painted and the image traced onto the canvas I started blocking in the shapes with a dark underpainting. I continued filling the canvas with loose shapes and tones of colour.
Individually Painting sections at times.
I had to work on different sections of the painting individually at times, because the painting was blocked in carefully this was not a problem. Working on such a big canvas had its challenges but it was the only way I could get the detail.
Matching the pieces with the different Sections
Making sure the separate pieces would match the other section next to it was an interesting exercise.
Giving the Painting more Depth
I added a couple of giraffes on the horizon as a point of interest and gave the painting more depth I felt. The large tree was definitely a challenge making sure the branches were joining each other on each separate section.
Adding more Detail
As the painting came together and the figures were added in more detail, the story of the African village at sunset was coming together nicely.
Completed Painting
The completed painting I am very proud of, this tranquil, colourful sunset makes me smile every time I see it. I hope you like the story of its construction and the finished painting.