Into the Light

A very moving painting. Lovely texture and colour.

I agree with Avril. An original and beautiful painting.

A very interesting painting. How did you achieve the background? Is it gold leaf?

Chito, this painting was achieved using the following steps: 1. On a primed board, only the main subject (the little girl) was drawn and painted in using acrylics. 2. Once the acrylic had dried, lay the board flat. A thick wash of Brown Pink (Rowney) oil paint thinned with a mixture of half and half Damar Varnish and painting medium (turpentine and linseed oil) was then painted onto the whole board, including the acrylic painted subject. The wash mix should be fairly liquid. Raw Sienna could have been used in place of the Brown Pink. 3. Pieces of cut newspaper were then pushed randomly into the wash, with a round piece for the sun being put down first. 4. The newspaper was then removed after a certain amount of time (the longer they are left and the more they are rubbed in, the more wash will be removed with them (e.g. the sun) 5. The remaining wash was then carefully removed from the girl using a small brush and thinners or turps, leaving the original acrylic paint exposed. 6. Highlights and finishing touches were then applied with oil paint over the acrylic as required. Lovely interesting texture can be achieved in the foreground by scrunching up the newspaper and dabbing onto the wash, or by spraying turps or thinners on using a toothbrush, etc. (see the foregrounds of the two Nguni Cattle paintings which were done in a similar way). I hope this explains my method .... it takes a bit of trial and error!

This is beautiful, so full of imagination and she is so typical.

Lovely and atmospheric image. Like the gentle pink colour of the girls dress, really works for me.