I had my first request for an acrylic painting on canvas recently. Obviously not my first painting on canvas…that ship sailed in my teen years! A husband requested a gift voucher as a birthday present for his wife; she’s passionate about giraffes so this was the original plan. However, after discussing the painting with the client, she asked for a peacock. I was very excited about this; I can’t recall painting a peacock before. Strangely enough I focused on birds for my exhibition series in my third year of my BA. But I was heavily influenced by Francis Bacon and worked in an expressive style with the concept of birds being crucified on barbed wire fences (I know, pretty dark!).
The brief for the canvas was a blue/white/grey peacock as it’s intended location was a brand new kitchen that had that colour scheme. I think this is where art and design overlap wonderfully. I mocked up 3 mini-paintings to show potential compositions and colour combinations. The brighter blue version appealed the most and so I got to work! Took me a full week to complete (20×32 inch artwork) and I had a great time experimenting with patterns and mark-making.
So 2021 is a year of business firsts and new avenues…portraits and big canvases have taken up most of my year so far! In fact I’m only on my second dog portrait of the year this week! Who knows what lies ahead? The perks of being self-employed, life is never dull! Have a great week.
Linda Rodgers Art & Design 