Sisters Painting

Sisters acrylic painting. 24″ x 30″ wrapped canvas. ©Teresa Kogut, all rights reserved

My sweet friend that I met back in middle school asked me if I could create a painting for her as a Christmas gift for her niece, Tara. It was less than two weeks before Christmas and at that point I hadn’t even gotten my shopping done! I told her as long as it doesn’t have to arrive at her house before Christmas, I was pretty sure I could pull it off.

The painting is a representation of Tara’s three beautiful daughters, Victoria, Chloe and Marley. The hair and eye color match the girls but otherwise the angels are created in my style.

Here’s the crazy part – Kristin lives in Tennessee and I live in Michigan….her niece, Tara, and her daughters also lives in Michigan but will be at Kristin’s house for Christmas. Kristin really wanted to be with Tara when she opened the painting so I had to ship it to Tennessee and then they’ll ship it back to Tara’s house in Michigan. (a well-traveled painting for sure)

Below you can see my painting process. I had hoped to video tape the entire process but I was having major technical difficulties with my GoPro and didn’t have any time to waste trying to figure out the problem.

Hope you enjoy!

Just getting started!

I always start with the faces.

Once I get the faces almost done, I start filling in color everywhere else.

I really wasn’t sure if I was going to paint the background in a light or dark color.

The dresses….

I decided to paint a red background…not as a final color but so that it will show through when I sand. You’ll see….

Adding detail to the dresses. And notice the middle angel’s nose and lips from the last photo…I reworked them and now she has a bit of a smile.

I put a watery light yellow wash over the flower dress to tone the pattern down a bit. Lightened the background again.

After the painting was almost complete, I felt the background was too boring. I have never used the Sharpie white oil painting pens but thought I would give them a try. I LOVE them! I drew flowers on the lower half of the painting to add more interest.

Close up before antiquing.

After I sanded (see the red showing through?), crackled and varnished. I added gold shimmery paint to the halos for a special touch.

Close up after antiquing.

Chloe (teenager)

Victoria, the oldest sister.

Marley, the youngest

Another closeup

Detail of Chloe’s dress. I didn’t plan this floral pattern. I just started painting flowers. The best surprises happen that way!

Now for the BEST part! Below is a video of Kristin and her niece, Tara, opening the painting. Enjoy!

I hope you enjoyed seeing the process of creating “Sisters” acrylic painting. I had so much fun painting it and I am thrilled beyond words it has a loving home.

Blessings,

Teresa

Tagged as: art, painting