Here's my newest painting: "Teddy Bears Three"
I started this one several months ago and got stuck on the teddy bear fur. I've written about getting stuck on a painting in previous posts. In this case, I knew what the problem was but it was going to need serious concentration to move it forward. I pulled it out after joining StitchSilly in her pledge to build up shop inventory by add one thing a week for 8 weeks.
I used my daughter's old stuffed animal collection for the initial composition. I liked how the well loved toys no longer sit up straight – they lean against each other to stay up. I used an Ampersand gesso art board for this painting. The art board has a very smooth surface and handles lots of light layers of paint well. Painting teddy bear fur requires light layers of gradating paint colors, lightly tapped (stippled) on to create the soft fluffy look of the fur. I started with mid tone brown and slowly added burnt umber ( dark brown) to the mix as I stippled on the fur. Then I use the first mid tone brown and begin adding a little yellow, and then white to create the lighter fur. When layering 15 -25 layers of paint, it's pretty easy to end up with a muddy look – which is what happened on the first round. This week, I slowly reworked the stippling, painted on the bows and faces. Now I think it looks like fluffy teddy bear fur. : )
That's a peek behind my easel! Thanks for stopping by!
