Sunday 13 January 2013

Canvas - Inspired by Finnabair - with Crafty Individuals' Image


I've been so inspired by the beautiful and evocative art of Finnabair - Anna Dabrowska, and I know so have many others. I've been thinking for some weeks of attempting something similar on a canvas and wasn't sure I could pull it off. She works mainly with photographs, and I wanted to use something else in their place as I don't have any photos to use. Another of my fears was, would the gesso 'take' on so many different items, and would the items fall off? I was also very scared about composition. But my main fear was, how do I know when it is done, and when to stop? All you can do, I guess, is go for it, and I use very cheap canvases and most of the other bits I picked up off the floor of my craft room so there wasn't much to lose! As far as when to stop is concerned I have decided to blog it now, and I might do some tweaks, and possibly show you again and see what you think.


A bit more of a close up of the frame and bird but difficult to see
 
The main image is a particularly gorgeous one from Crafty Individuals from one of their Miniature books. One of my aims was to try to keep this as the focus and try not to drown it, despite all the other bits I was adding, as I know this is a tendency of mine. Another thing Colin has pointed out is that I am scared of white areas, so I was aiming to keep a lot of white. I was also aiming for maximum texture, but in the background rather than highlighting it as I normally would, which felt strange. One of the things I may tweak is that you cannot really see the bird on the bird cage (top right) or the ornate frame surrounding the lady, and I have an idea for this which I may re-blog but what do you think? Do you think it matters?


The bottom portion showing the raised areas done with a stencil
Love to know what you think of this first attempt at a new style for me. I will definitely be doing this again and trying to improve. I can see it being very addictive. Thanks for your thoughts!

21 comments:

  1. I love all the white on this - reminds me of icing. I love how you've adapted Finnabair's style to make something that's yours.

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  2. So pretty, Lucy... the delicate pastels allow the lovely lady to really shine, and the texture and dimensionality is amazing!
    Alison x

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  3. Love the pastel colours :)

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  4. Fabulous thats what I think !!!! You have really created a masterpiece and I too think it looks like icing ! I am sitting here and have been for a few weeks now wanting to try this technique but am too scared. You have given me the push I need so thank you ! You really should do more of these you are obviously a natural talent !

    Marie

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  5. Wonderful Lucy, you have mastered this beautifully and created something very special. I love it.
    See you Tuesday.
    Hugs Brenda xox

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  6. It's so soft and elegant! An instant heirloom...gorgeous!

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  7. This has to be my top hole favourite of all your canvases Lucy. So many lovely textures and its so full of romance. Brill work my friend. Have a great week, Annette x

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  8. looks great Lucy, the soft colours are so feminine, it flows beautifully , I'm doing a class with Finn in March, so excited. Debi x

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  9. Oh Lucy this is so beautiful ! hope I get to see it soon :)
    Von ♥

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  10. Hello Lucy
    For your first attempt at Mixed-media, it is great. The mellow, softness that you have attained is mouthwatering,it is not easy to know when to stop, I always keep going; to my detriment usually.
    You will become addicted to this type of Art.
    Keep going I say.
    Smiles:)
    Sue

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  11. This is lovely Lucy. I like Crafty Individuals stamps too. Such a wonderful canvas:)
    Xxx
    Sue

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  12. This is a gorgeous piece but I agree with what you say about the bird cage & the frame especially the frame (highlighting the cage might detract from the main focal piece and is too close to it to balance it).I think the frame could be subtly highlighted either by slightly darkening the area behind it so it stands out or shading the edges of the frame to differentiate it from the BG.

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  13. Very pretty effect. I might choose to highlight the frame in a very subtle way to accentuate the focal image even more but I'd leave the rest at the same level of intensity - I think it adds to the dreamy, ethereal feel.

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  14. Großartig, Lucy.
    So fein und elegant.

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  15. I love this Lucy, and it's on my to-do list as well. I've admired Finnabair for a long time and really want to try this fun style of embedding in the canvas. I think yours is fantastic. I imagine a frame around the lady would be nice but I think it's lovely as is, too.

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  16. This is beautiful, Lucy - so soft and dreamy!

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  17. This is such a beautiful canvas Lucy.
    xxx Hazel.

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  18. Hi Lucy, this is gorgeous, love all the luscious textures and soft pastel shades, I want to touch it it looks so tactile. Xx

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  19. Hi Lucy, and welcome to mixed media! You canvas is absolutly amazing!! with a dozen new canvases right at my feet I want to grab one and give this a try. Such wonderful soft colors. WELL DONE!!

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  20. Oh Lucy, this is fab! The colours are lovely and the textures are terrific. I can quite see why you think this will be addictive. xxx

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  21. this canvas is fatabulastic! i personally wouldnt change a thing! will have to try my hand again using Finn's techniques. I do love her creations.

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