by Karen Goll
(Portage, MI, USA)
Owl on Burlap
I love Acrylics Anonymous and look forward to the news letter each month. I was struck and inspired by Marks comment "Finding magic in the world and regurgitating it in some way on canvas has to be one of the greatest experiences of my life.” I have been painting for just over a year and find myself completely obsessed.
This painting is on a framed piece of gessoed burlap. It is "based" on a photograph taken near Mount Hood in Oregon. The owl in the photo was too small so I used a different owl picture enlarged to the size I needed.
Using graphite paper I traced the outline of the owl onto my canvas (is that cheating?) as I was afraid to try to free hand it. I love the blue and pink shades and was pleased with how the owl came out.
I spent WAY too much time on the background, I should have used a larger brush and made the trees a bit more hazy. I painted the birch tree with a knife and the fallen tree with my favorite brush the angled shader.
The rocks are ok but I am having a hard time getting them to lay down. Overall I think it is done. I get to a point in my paintings where I am afraid if I try to change or add something I may ruin the whole thing.
Most of them are more abandoned than finished.