Leah the Safari Guide

This is for A Day Not Wasted April 2014 painting challenge. It's oil on 8x10 canvas panel.

This month's reference photo (ref) is actually quite challenging. Sketching took the longest as the posture, especially the hands, were not exactly the most straight forward. However, I enjoyed the initial sketching process to brush up on my sketching skill, looking at the everything in terms of shapes, and checking proportions and negative spaces to make sure my sketch was not too far off. 

Once the sketching is done, I put on a rough layer of acrylic painting of orchre mixed with black as my ground. I kept the background rough since the girl's clothing had very loud colors, pink, red, vermillion etc. There were way too many details on the girl's cape, so I only dared to paint in some polka dots, and rough orange flowers.

Liverpool Youthful Spirits

This is for Virtual Paintout 2014 April Liverpool challenge. It's oil on 10x14 canvas panel.

While randomly traveling in Liverpool, I saw this young couple who apparently saw the Google map camera, and were chasing after it. I thought this particular frame (ref) best captured the youthful spirits, in particular the girl. The marshland around the Ribble Estuary National Nature Reserve is also interesting, along with the perspective element of the bridge.

Once I started painting, I realized there were a bit too many elements to fit into this little painting. I got it to a point where the essence of the scene, the light, perspective and youthful feel were captured, I stopped. It was tempting to make all the lines perfect et al, but it was time to move on to the next painting.