Over the last couple of weeks I have been working on this mermaid. I had watched a Pirates of the Caribbean movie (the one with mermaids) and wanted to paint a scene with the mermaid on rocks above the water and the ship in the distance. The end of the day sunset through the clouds made her darker and in the shadows and since I made up the entire scene, I had to figure out where the light would hit her. The blues of the water uplit the shadows of her skin with blue tones. I started with a large canvas 30×48″ and primed it with black gesso. Then slowly worked in the lights.
Sometimes, I take cell photos during the weeks of painting to see where I was going with my original idea. The face is usually the hardest because every brush stroke changes who she looks like. There is always a time where “she” emerges and I say to myself “There you are”! Below is a link to a slideshow of this mermaid paintings progress.
