Tree of Life Painting

_{Download Size: 2910 x 3675}

This is from last quarter, but I have a backlog of deviations to upload for you guys.

So, I am definitely more of an oils girl. This was done in acrylics and I was hating
every minute of it, but I loooved getting back into painting and working with real,
traditional media. I'm missing that this quarter since all of my classes are digital.

This painting is a stylized representation of the tree of life, modeled after knot work
since I love the intricate symmetry of that art style. In the Fall, I drew a small concept
sketch for this and couldn't get it out of my head, so when I got to Color Theory II and
we were given the opportunity to paint whatever we wanted, I absolutely had to do it.
I first took the sketch into Illustrator and made a digital lineart, just to ensure that both
sides were mirrored accurately. Then I put it in Photoshop to mock up some different
color schemes. When I had one that I liked, I turned to my acrylic paints and slowly but
surely recreated what I had done on the computer… even the texture effects I added.

I spent so much time perfecting this painting; it went through three or more revisions
before I could call it finished. I put a lot of effort into the leather-like texture, using a dry
brush technique to give the impression of stippling. It didn't turn out exactly as planned,
but I'm not unhappy with the results either. One thing that I am proud of is how precise
I was able to be with my brushes, how clean the lines/transitions are, how symmetrical
everything still is. A steady hand was absolutely required for this! The major thing about
this project is that every color used was mixed with a warm green---those were the only
project requirements. We could mix as little or as much of it in as we wanted. By using
that one constant hue, every resulting hue kept within the same harmonious spectrum.

My favorite aspect of this piece is the shadowing around the brown areas. If you look
closely, you will see that the darker edges are actually very purple. It gives the piece
some added interest, I think. These colors and even the symbol itself are very me and
as soon as I can find a nice frame and mat, this baby is going up on a wall somewhere.
I hope you enjoy this month-long painting exercise, lol. I am a hideously slow painter.

_{Painting completed March 4, 2011.
Acrylics on 11" x 14" bristol paper.}