Just Picture It: Nursery Paintings

Last week, I finally finished my most recent commission, a 5-painting, mixed media series for a dear friend and fellow TS-teacher's new nursery. Her little one isn't due until March, but she and her husband began conceptualizing the nursery way back in July, and it was an absolute joy working with them to bring their ideas to life. Since I love the entire process of creating works of art, and find it to be really interesting, I thought that today I'd (once again) break down my creation process for you. Enjoy!

Stage 1: Planning
After visiting their place, seeing the room, talking with them, and taking a look at the other art in their home, I created about 12 little sketches/ideas for Angelyn & Jeff to look through (image above). They also provided me with some adorable children's toys that they wanted me to use for inspiration, which was very helpful. Once I provided them with the sketches, they picked out the 5 that they liked the most, and together, we decided on how we would tweak them and what size each piece would be. I purchased the panels, and then laid everything out on the floor to visualize the finished series.

Stage 2: Start mapping out the composition
Once I painted the background of each panel (there's nothing scarier than a blank canvas!), I began drawing out the basic lines and composition of each piece. Working on all 5 pieces at a time, I began to put down the larger fields of colors/background colors...

Stage 3: Start adding details
Once I figured out the basic format for each painting, I began adding details, little by little...

Stage 4: Just keep layering...
This process continued for the next 5-6 painting sessions, which basically consisted of picking a few colors and beginning to add details with that color to each painting (so that they would all fit together in some way/to create a color story). I also added pieces of paper (mostly maps) and pencil to add to the texture and interest of each surface.

Stage 5: Finished!
I sent many emails back and forth with Angelyn & Jeff throughout the entire process, so that they could provide input and feedback. My favorite feedback that they sent along? "Could you make the middle apple look less like a red delicious and more like a Honey Crisp?" I totally agreed with this feedback and made the change (you can see it in the finished product, below). I LOVE people who speak apple ;)

After everything was finished, I was really happy with the final product (and I hope they are, too!). These are some of the most colorful, fun, whimsical paintings I've ever created! 
You can view each of the final pieces below:

And voila! Another fun commission finished--just in time for Christmas ;)

Thanks to the fabulous Angelyn and Jeff for asking me to do this project! I cannot wait to see how the nursery comes together...and congrats on your little one!

Namaste,
Mary Catherine