Silk Painting on an August Afternoon

Silk Painting - Figures

So much has been going on in my life lately, and I've had a hard time finding the time and space to create what comes to me...until this past week, I brushed off the sketch pad and my medium sized stretcher frame and got back to the painting.

I really enjoy my abstract figure work on silk. I like using color to convey emotion, and the abstract figures that I have been playing with give me the opportunity to play with color blending in large spaces, but I still get some super detailed work in in places (like hair - I love my girls' hair!).

Silk Painting: Figures and bubble explosion background

I draw inspiration from my dreams, my desires, my fantasy, and the world around me. I love both literal, nature inspired art and pure fantasy. This piece is a fantasy, a representation of being in love, or being loved: of feeling a passion so intense that it spills out into the world around the two of you.

As I often do, I began with a rough sketch and then transferred the design freehand to the silk using a clear water based resist. I painted the figures first, making the woman a sun creature - filled with fire colors, whereas the male figure is more unrelieved night. Day and night - opposites that come together and create magic (I also love dusk).

Silk Painting: Close up of complete figures

After painting the figures, I used similar colors and washes that were present in the bodies of the main figures to fill in the bubbles that were exploding from them. I used water and mixed colors to create fades in some of the larger bubbles working dark to light. Then, I filled in the woman's hair with browns, reds, and a little yellow, keeping in tune with the palette that I had already chosen for her.

The base got a treatment of greens and browns, and then I finished the sky in black, using water to fade and swirl the color out to greys.

I was concerned that the final piece was going to be too dark, but I love it - the photos don't do this one justice! 

Silk Painting:Finished