Behind the scenes: Dreamscape
Updated: Dec 20, 2022
From top to bottom, I'll tell you everything you need to know about the audience's favorite three piece artwork.
the rundown
My cousin currently lives in New York. She had just moved into a new apartment, where she was looking to add a little spice to her empty living room. So, she contacted me and said: "hey, I really like the stuff you've been putting out there. I really want to support your work. You think you can make me something for my living room?". Now, I was extremely excited for the opportunity, and of course I was like "hell yeah!". From there, we discussed sizing options, color options, budget, and of course the most important topic - what do we want it to look like?
Stephanie was pretty unsure of what she generally wanted the composition to look like, but knew that she wanted the colorway to be neutral. A store bought three piece panel already resided in her home was approximately 15" x 35" each. We then agreed to make it similar in size. I thought, "let's just make it even. Does 14" x 32" sound good?". She says, "well, you're the artist. You can do anything you think looks best with the décor I have right now. I like your piece Planet Underwater, can you do something along those lines?" Immediately, I knew I had to make it about her love for the city. With my work, I try my very best to make it personal to the client.
Brainstorming
Firstly, I started off with brainstorming ideas, and quickly came up with thumbnail sketches.
Here's me jotting down my "notes". I grab my markers and try my best to map out what I'm thinking. On the left, the sketches are ideas I had before I was inspired by "NY". The image on the right, is when the idea hit me. She liked the first set on the left, but wanted more browns to be included. So, then the sketch on the right was like a "revamp". She liked the design and colors on the right. However, she did not like the circles. That is completely fine. I do not take criticism to heart at all, as it helps me figure out what the client wants. My goal is to make sure that in the end, the client loves and is satisfied with the finished piece. I decided to use the heavy brushstrokes, discard the use of circles, and make it along the lines of a "city scape".
supplies used
Once I had a general idea of what I wanted it to look like, I quickly gathered supplies. If you're looking to get art supplies, I highly recommend jerry's artarama. It is a discounted art store, and if you sign up at the store for the discount card you'll receive 10% off every purchase. So, go ahead and take advantage of that. This is not an ad by the way.
Anyways, here's what I used:
Best - Light duty stretcher bars
Fredrix - Unprimed Cotton Canvas roll
Liquitex - Basics Acrylic Gesso
Golden - High Flow Acrylic Inks
LUKAS CRYL - Studio Artist Acrylic Paint
Liquitex - Heavy Body Acrylics
Posca - Acrylic Paint Markers
Blick - Studio Acrylics