The Postcard

The Postcard

1920 x 1200

SketchBook

so you left for the city

i hope you like it there

you're only here now to see the Village Fair

you're just here for the music, that's all

or could it be, you miss the good old times

when you danced with me

-- ABBA, When You Danced With Me

This painting is inspired by a song by ABBA from their latest album 'Voyage' called 'When You Danced With Me', which is a personal favourite of mine because of how Celtic it feels and sounds and also because of the poignant story it tells. 

The painting took a while to work through. Normally my painting process tended to be more paint-as-I-go. This time around, however, I decided that I would like to be a bit more mindful and thoughtful in my decisions. 

So, I began with the colour palette. This is my first time doing this; I tended to choose my colours from the wheel on a whim. Once I was satisfied, I started sketch-painting, keeping in mind that I would be adding two little guys into the foreground after.

After I got the general look sort of right for the landscape, I started on the little guys. I sketched them first to get a general idea of their postures, before switching off the background and sizing up the sketch layer. Normally I would work these figures together with the background, but not this time. I wanted to be a little more precise with the details, so I thought I should just hide the background for a bit so that I can focus. 

Here are the figures with their base colours blocked out. 

And here they are with details, shadows and highlights. 

After that, I turned the background back on and scaled them down to fit with the background and adjusted where I needed to, before filling in the rest of the details -- which was where I returned to my default paint-as-I-go mode, only now with the foundations laid in. Also, added a painterly border at the end, which made it look almost like a postcard, hence the title. 

By the end of it, I do feel a greater sense of accomplishment and satisfaction from having gone through the process. Sure it took more time to plan out, but it helped me break down the elements of the pictures and to focus on each elements without feeling the need to rush into the others -- something which tends to happen when I work on the painting as one entire whole. I guess, I tend to bite more than I can chew -- and I'm not necessarily speaking metaphorically here either. 

A new lesson gained. And an important one at that.