Painting a Cottage and a wall mural in acrylic

So, I love cottages and I also love the way they look right before dark with the warm light glowing through the paned windows. This was my inspiration for this painting.

 

 

I used a regular canvas that you can find at Walmart or a craft store. I used regular craft paint, not the expensive stuff. Here is a picture of what I use. It is 88. cents a bottle. Cheaper when you catch it on sale. I love it.

 

 

I painted the sky first. I made the trees very, very light in the background, then I dragged the brush from left to right to blend it in even more into the background. I worked in layers until I came to the trees just behind this house.

 

When I got to the house, I painted the windows with a mixture of yellow and white paint. I wanted to create a warm glow. THEN I painted the framework around the window, then I painted in the rocks on the outside, and finally the roof.

 

I would often stand back and look at it. I like to imagine where I would put a walkway or a tree, bush, or flower if this were my house. Then, in it goes!

 

Voila.....cottage painting.



-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For this next one....there was a space on my wall next to the sliding glass door that looked bare, so I decided to paint a wall mural. It turned out pretty good. If you look really close you can see the light switch that I painted over to blend it into the mural.

 

 

I tried to use the colors in my kitchen and dining room area so that it would be beautiful, but also blend in. I wanted it to compliment the room, not stick out like a sore thumb. Ya know?

 

As I do in all my paintings, I worked from the background, to the foreground. I also had an inspiration picture to look at. If you go to google and type in vineyard landscapes....you will get hundreds of photos to choose from.

 

So the sky went in first. I made it pretty simple. Then I kept the background pretty vague as well. I didn't get into any detail until I got to the flowers and trees.

 

Remember to decide just where your sun is shining. THEN make sure all of the light parts of your plants are on that side. Place the darker shades to the back. Just like you would see in nature. Its good to take some photos of trees and shrubs on a sunny day and really look at how the light falls.

 

Here is a close up of the flowers and shrubs. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. I always love input.

 



 



 

Happy Painting!!