Thursday, June 4, 2015

Mermaid Canvas Using June StencilClub Stencils


Hi - Jessica Sporn here to show you how the June StencilClub stencils led me to this pretty mermaid canvas.


When I received the stencils, I was struck by their organic, flowing shape.   I decided they were perfect for an abstract canvas.






I prepared a 10 x 10 gallery wrapped canvas with gesso, and randomly painted it with some of my favorite colors.


Then I pulled out some complimentary colors (these are all Golden Fluid Acrylics), and started making shapes and patterns with the stencils.


I had so much fun playing with these shapes.  I kept rotating the canvas, without thought to top or bottom.


Though I planned to start "knocking back" some of the areas, at this point I "saw" a woman's head and long flowing hair in the top right corner.  Do you see it?


I let her guide me, sketching in the places for her features, a flower crown, and her flowing hair.  (And so... goodbye abstract canvas, hello mermaid!)


Then I turned to her face, and shaded it in.


The stencils lent themselves perfectly to an "under the sea" effect.


As I finished her, I remembered a song by one of my favorite singer songwriters, Jonathan Brooke, called "Always," about a mermaid.  I journaled about it in her hair, and added some of the lyrics to the bottom of the painting.


I hope you enjoy playing with the June StencilClub Stencils designed by Cecilia Swatton!
I certainly did!

13 comments:

  1. Thank you, Jessica! I loved the excitement you showed in creating this artwork -- boldness of color with a spirit of adventure! May I ask your permission to use one of the above images in a new post to my blog?

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    1. Thanks so much Cecilia - and of course - always!

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  2. OMGosh! Those are beautiful! each step is lovely, some of them I'd love as just abstracts! Thanks for sharing your work Jessica, it is inspiring! Cannot wait for June's stencils now!

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    1. many thanks - I really enjoyed the process.

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  3. She is beautiful. What a beautiful back ground that surrounds her and that hair... perfect.

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  4. So beautiful. Each step is art on its own. Just love it all.

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  5. This is gorgeous! I would never in a million years have gone that route with these, but now I'm looking at them in a whole new light! Thanks for the inspiration (and the beautiful eye candy :D)

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  6. Even if I hadn't seen your name attached to this beautiful piece, I would have known it was yours because of the beautifully recognizable face, along with the bright colors you used. I love her and her gorgeous long hair. You always inspire me to just relax and play and watch my piece emerge.

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