Title and Medium
Candyland Bus, acrylics, 300x400 mm canvas
Artist's Statement
I just started painting two weeks ago and when I saw this month's project theme I thought I should give it a go. My first sketch was focused on the bus and the town I live in, but then I decided that I wanted to put the serious bus in a different kind of city, so I made a city of candy.
Sadly I bought a very grainy kind of canvas (and very cheap I might add) and it gave me a very hard time when I was painting. I am somewhat satisfies with how it turned out, and I would love some feedback.
I don't know if the sketches I made are appropriate or not, but I feel like they helped me a lot. I think I will keep sketching at least a bit before all my painting projects, because I found it helps knowing what way to go.
What I'd Do Differently
- Buy a better canvas.
- Either shade or keep it flat all the way in the painting.
- Use brighter colors
Marion Boddy-Evans, Painting Guide, says:
It's a quirky, rather surreal, painting that's intriguing. The candy "reads" as tall buildings, a tree, a fountain, and is intriguing. I would've liked the bus to be on the road, rather than aligned with the bottom edge of the canvas. But floating above the road as it does now adds to the fantasy-feeling.
If a canvas is too rough, consider adding another couple of coats of gesso (or primer), sanding each down to smoothen it. It's time consuming, but can be the cheapest route.
There isn't a right or wrong way to sketch, nothing that in inappropriate to put in your sketchbook because it's yours and yours alone. Some people like to do meticulous painting studies with notes on colors, textures, etc; other people make very rough, cryptic notes in a sketchbook. This page from Monet is little more than a few lines he put down to give a visual outline of an idea he had for of his lilypad paintings. The idea is for it to help you, not to be something beautiful to show someone else.
