"Doe and Fawn"

This is my latest painting titled "Doe and Fawn".  I am often asked how long it takes me to create a painting so I decided to time myself while I did this one.  I also took photos of the different steps in the process.  Since people seem interested in how I do a painting I am going to post the photos of the different steps.

The hardest thing on this painting was coming up with an idea.  I had planned to paint on Super Bowl Sunday while my husband watched the game.  I started by picking a frame then painted an 11X14 canvas board black. Next I started to think about what I would paint but was totally brain dead so went on Facebook and asked my friends for ideas.  I couldn't believe how many ideas were given to me but nothing quite appealed to me so I gave up on painting that evening and just played games on the computer and watched some of the game.

 The next morning I woke up with an idea (I do my best thinking in the morning).  I decided to do a doe and her fawn similar the the mare and foal painting I have done in the past.  I spent maybe 20 minutes doing online research on deer and looked at images of both does and fawns and started to get an idea of what I wanted the painting to look like.  I was going to start on the painting that morning but when I checked my email I had a commission for two domino train stations from a lady from DE. So I put the painting on hold for a few days until I completed the commissioned job.

By Wednesday I was ready to do the painting. I started by doing  the preliminary drawing on tracing paper. I also decided I wanted a brown border so painted it on the canvas that morning.
Here is the sketch.

I bowl in a league that meets on Wednesday afternoon so I didn't start work on the painting until I got home at 4 that day. The first thing I did was to transfer the sketch to the canvas with white transfer paper.

I then painted in the base colors.

My working time on Wednesday was about 4 hours.  Thursday was a cold snowy day...a perfect day to stay home and paint.  The first thing I did that morning was to splatter the frame with black paint to give it a rustic look.  I use an old toothbrush and run a pencil across the bristles to splatter the paint.

The next step was to add shading to each color section by floating on a darker color around the edges of each section.

By the time I finished this part it was time for lunch so I took a couple hours off to eat and relax.  When I went back to work I started what I consider the "fun part".  That is doing the design decoration on each section to give it that patchwork look. I worked on this for a few hours then took another break.

Later I finished off the painting by doing the final shading using a wash of black and dry brushing on white.  I outlined each section in black and did the dot work on the border.  I worked on the painting  just over 5 hours yesterday.

I did the final work on the painting this morning by applying 3 coats of polycrylic.  This helps to protect the paint and also helps to make the colors "POP".  I use Minwax satin polycrylic.  After the protective coats were dry I framed the painting. Total time I spent on creating this painting is around 10 hours. If you scroll up to the top of this page you can take another look at the finished painting.

 I enjoy painting and to make it even more fun I listen to audio books while I paint. I have always been a book lover so now I can do two things I love at the same time...Reading and Painting!  On Wednesday I finished listening to "a Spool of Blue Thread" by Anne Tyler which I had started earlier in the week and yesterday I started "The Cinderella Murder" by Mary Higgins Clark and Alafair Burke.  I got through four discs and still have 3 to go. That means I will have to start another painting project so I can finish my book.  Not sure what I will do next but am thinking maybe a functional item like a bowl.  I painted many of them when I lived in Tucson but they all had a southwest subject.  I will have to come up with a new idea that will appeal to the Michigan art lover.