painting a vision

yesterday i was busy painting a vision i had the night before.  it was a very detailed picture of an octopus in the ocean, reaching to grab a yellow orb (the sun, possibly) from the surface to drag it to her.  i tried to keep as much memory of it alive thru the night so i could work on it the next day, and i think i'm pretty good with all of the tiny detail that i have retained.

yesterday i worked on finding reference photos of the little elements i needed, like the water on the surface and the highlights of the sun underneath the water.  i sketched out my vision and went to work with the underpainting of the background for this amazing creature.

i will make sure each tentacle has some sort of story.  

this is just a rough sketch

i also looked up the meaning of octopus, as every animal has a lesson to teach us.  i knew octopus came to me last night for a reason.

octopus tells us to relax and be flexible in our lives, to move with fluidity and grace, in a more natural, easy going way.  octopus is very smart and loves a puzzle, it teaches us to continue striving for knowledge pertaining to our dreams.  i love the symbolism of my vision with the octopus reaching for the prize in order to hold it closer.

the under painting of many layers to come

finding the sun rays and toning things down a bit

another layer toning some things down and brightening others

getting some life in the ocean

this morning i have some symptoms that are getting in the way of an ideal painting day, but i wanted to get a little more on the canvas.  this painting came to me and i will respect that.  every little dab of paint is a bow to the reason i am here, a bow to spirit, a bow to life and love.  i respect this painting and will give it my utmost attention, even if it has to be in short bursts.

and on that note, this morning i only added some magenta and yellow to the sky to make it more alive, and i added more coral to the ocean floor before going to the couch for some recovery time.

i'm very excited about how it is coming life, and i look forward to time spent with painting this creature!

until later,

jenny