In the first post, I briefly described my creative session with children Doroteja (8) and Domas (5). Later, I used the drawings by children, their stories and photographs to create 10 different ideas for a Neverland Portrait. Out of these ideas, the family chose their favourite – Doroteja and Angry Fish. The video below briefly shows the whole story of how this idea came about.
Later, I created 6 painting versions for this drawing. After the presentation, the family chose their favourite version – Doroteja and Angry Fish in a Fishbowl. Since it was a complex composition, I painted a second improved version of this idea.
In this blog post, you can learn about the making process of the final painting – Neverland Portrait of Doroteja with oil on canvas. There’s a quick 3-minute video. Bellow it, you can read more about my experience and decisions that were made together with Doroteja and her parents.
Excluding the construction and priming of the oval canvas, it took me about 7 weeks of painting to finish this artwork. Most of the creative decisions were done during the making process of the 1st and 2nd versions of preparatory paintings in acrylics. You can read blog posts about them by clicking the links bellow:
https://neverlandportraits.com/doroteja-and-angry-fish-in-a-fishbowl-part-one/
https://neverlandportraits.com/doroteja-and-angry-fish-in-a-fishbowl-iteration-2nd-version-1st-part/
Background
If you have not read the previous posts and are wondering about how I created this dotted texture in the background, (I apologise – I did not take a photo during painting so I could not add it in the video), it is by stamping the bubble wrap. I have to say it was easier to paint with this technique using acrylics. This time the spirit mixed up with oil paint would melt the plastic bubbles after a while. (Advice for myself and for other artists who want to work with this technique: have lots of bubble wrap in stock. If the paint is mixed with spirit, after every 10 stamps you will need a new piece of bubble wrap. If you are diluting paint with linseed oil (for this technique to work, you will have to dilute paint with something), you will use up less bubble wrap but be prepared that it will take a week or two for the surface to dry completely.)
Choosing Favourite Details Between Two Versions
After I finished the 2nd version of Doroteja in a Fishbowl with acrylics on paper, I presented both (1st and 2nd) versions to Doroteja and her family so that they could choose their favourite details between the two.
Water Surface
They preferred the waterline to be in lighter colours as it was in the 1st version.
Window Reflection
They really liked the reflection of the windows in the 2nd version because it looked just like the ones in their own house. Note: just like I did while painting the 2nd version, I used a projector (projecting this sketch onto canvas) to paint the reflection of windows in the final painting.
The Fish
Since a few people commented that the fish in the 1st version looked not very scary and more like a toy, in the 2nd version I extended its tail to recede into the background. The family approved of this decision.
Lips of the Fish
When I asked whether the smaller lips of the fish in the 2nd version look more natural, Doroteja’s dad preferred them to be bigger like it was in the 1st version and in the original drawing by Doroteja.
During making of the final painting, I decided to change the teeth of the fish into something scarier. Therefore, with the help and inspiration from Google Images, I made them longer and sharper.
The Girl
During the making of preparatory paintings with acrylics on paper, I did not spend much time to portray the girl accurately. The most important thing was the general impression.
However, when I was making the final paining, I spent a lot of my time and effort in order to make a good portrait of Doroteja. I have spent more than three weeks on painting only the girl. It was actually my first time painting a human portrait. At first, I intended not to overwork her image but instead to paint the most important marks at correct places that would create a good impression of Doroteja. However, the girl’s image did not seem good enough for a long time. On the canvas, the girl’s head was under 4cm in height, and I spent many days pushing the paint of various tones around. Only when it looked close to photographic realism, I felt satisfied. I predict that after this experience in the future I should be somewhat quicker when making a child’s portrait.
The Big Reveal
Thank you, Universe, for your gifts, lessons and opportunities to give something back to the world.
