Painting Jesus

My dear husband had been nagging me for a while about me owing him a painting of Christ.  Since I've had plenty of time in my hands, I decided to go ahead and make it for him.  I used acrylic paint on a 16"x20" prestretched canvas.  Here goes:

Day 1:

Pencil sketch took about 15 minutes to get done.

Outlining with blue paint took less time.

It took me over an hour to get the background right because I made it too dark at first.  I wanted a lighter color so I went over it a few times with more white paint.

Next came the underpainting for the face. 

After this, I got tired and set it aside for a few days, so...

Day 5 (technically Day 2):

I spent probably 4-5 hours on this one sitting.

I mixed yellows, reds, purples, and greens to get the light and dark brown pigment.  More purple=darker brown for the beard.

Next are details on the eyes and the rest of the face.

Finished the hair and darker area of the cloth.

I mixed a lot of dark brown paint and didn't want it to go to waste, so I was forced to finish painting out the dark parts, then decided to go ahead and do the lighter areas. (which was good because if I didn't, I would have set this aside to work on for another day :P)

Details on the cloth are added.  If you are very observant, you will notice that this picture and the previous one were upside down.  I like to paint the sides of my canvas, and you get a good perspective of the painting when veiwing it from a different side.

More details plus the signature and I'm done!

Front view

 Right side view

Vinta on Water

 This is a custom made painting for my cousin Rayri, who wanted a beach scene for her tropical themed home. 

No underpainting was done prior to the actual painting.  I just slathered on some gesso on the canvas and sandpapered it down to make it smooth (This protects my brushes from wearing down).

At 30"x48", this is the biggest acrylic painting I have done solo.

Here are pictures of the different stages of its development!

Most pictures were taken indoors by my phone.  My indoor lighting is yellowish, so the hues may vary.  Actual colors are captured in the last 4 pictures, which were taken outside with a digital camera.

 When making landscapes/seascapes, I always start with the sky.  Plain blue background came first, followed by the clouds.

Next is foliage starting with olive green base coating.

Palm trees are drawn on the foreground, and when I got tired of the details, added the sand and experimented on different shades of the water.

 More palm trees and the raw canvas is fully covered with blues and greens.

 Tree trunks and more palm leaf details are added.  Ripples are drawn on top of the water, and waves crash to the shore.

I then carved out a vinta's shadow with white paint. White paint will help make its colors brighter.

Then started filling it with color after the white paint dried.

I chose bright reds and oranges to contrast the blues and the greens.

Dark shadows are added to the sail and body.

The usual signature

Final product!

Side view:  I paint the sides of my canvas so they can be hung without having to be framed.



Double Trouble (12x18 pencil sketch)

Maria's two little cuties. :)

Outline

I almost always start with the eyes...

Then the faces... and hands...

Working on the hair

Dressing 'em up!

Putting details on the sweaters, and the toy.

Finished product!

Another Baby!

This is Abby's adorable little niece. :)

Outline

Basic shading

All done with the body

Growing some hair and adding details to the ribbon

Adding the background and the foreground

Few touch-ups here and there then my signature!