Saturday 19 January 2013

Snake in the grass....

or rather "Serpent in the Tree"
I have always been fascinated by depictions of this particular ancient story, so when I "acquired"(from my boys bedroom) a 22" x 10" box canvas, that was begging to be up-cycled lol, it was perfect for this project :D
I also "found" a pack of decorating stencils I bought from a home decor shop years ago, and new they too would be perfect for this canvas...
A coat of white gesso removed the offending street sign...and layers of stencilling ensued...
until the serpent was ready to show itself :D

White gesso on the background highlighted the image, and black acrylic defined the edges. Greenery was added with a stipple brush(stiff bristled stencil brush)...

then a deep blue stencilled over gave depth to the tree.

A deep yellow and rich red added fiery primal heat to the background, while white highlighting gave "form" to the serpent's body.

Final touches included iridescent paint to the body, gold paint on areas of the background/fruit/tree trunk and  brown paint rubbed around edges to add ageing.

The "white" areas are where the iridescent paint reflected the light


I would like to credit Tee Thompson and Jeanette House for showing me some of the techniques I used in this piece. I really love it, and it would not have happened without their inspiration :D
Enjoy :D XXX

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11 comments:

  1. This is bloody lovely. I love the stencil work that has given this piece so much texture. Dxx

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  2. This is wonderful. The stencil has given it so much depth and detail. Love it. Hugs Lynne xx

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  3. I love to see how you produce your shapes and wonderful forms. This is exquisite xx

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  4. Amazing how shapes begin to appear after all those layers and all that colour. Rather super duper Gina. You definitely have a gift for this sort of thing. hugs, Donna

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  5. Really, really nice job! It's lovely!

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  6. That is a GORGEOUS reptile! Love those colors (so shiny!) and the tongue, too ;-)

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  7. Wow! Looks fabulous ;)
    xoxo Sioux

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