Octoportrait, from the Depths

Acrylic Paint on 50cm x 60 cm (~19.5in x 23.5in) wooden panel. Tallinn, Estonia. 11.2020.

Hey Everyone! This is my first blog post of 2021. Posted the last one right at the end of 2020 and had a short break from blog writing, but now its back into action!

Octoportrait, from the Depths - a painting to really showcase some of the skills I have learned recently. I am really happy when I can see progress in my own work. It's a lot different than many of my paintings....maybe that is why it had such a good reception 😂😂

I did more planning than usual for Octoportrait. I started by blocking off the canvas with flat colors, dividing it into sections and figuring out what I would do in each step (most of the time I jump right in and start painting a scene right away). Although it is possible to wing it and end up with a cool painting, this strategy is not always working for me. So this time, I did my due diligence. You can see that it is very basic at this point!

Once I had my basic building blocks, then I got into action. I knew from the start I was going to make a wave, but I let my excitement get the best of me. You might think that I, as a painter, plan my paintings all the way to the end. I do not, but should really do so in the future. I got as close as ever with Octoportrait 😊

The blue and yellow of the under painting seemed a bit dull, so I spiced it up as I worked my way down from the sky to the water. As you have seen in my previous posts, I like sunsets and bright skies. Naturally I went with orange, and hoped to give the effect of the sun behind the wave, so the sky gets lighter toward the horizon. I didn't quite have the right shape of the wave when I did the under painting, so I managed to cover some of it up with the sky on the lower left side. The wave needed more of an arch toward the middle of the painting to give it that breaking effect. I also drifted more to a green/turquoise color for the water. As the wave breaks, the yellow and orange from the sky give a green hue to it. Also, if you read my last post about complimentary colors, then you know that orange and blue tend to contradict each other. These shades of orange and green are a bit closer to each other on the color wheel (sharing the color yellow), so they go together more naturally.

When it comes to the foreground, that's where I usually get stumped. I had a lot of arches and bright colors going on, and eventually my mind drifted to an octopus. I put myself to the test with this one, painting it to look like parts are above and below the water line.

This took a loooooot of layers of paint until I got it right. I was wrapping the water lines around some of the tentacles and bringing it in front of others. Also, I painted the octopus violet and then painting turquoise over it again to push it under water. This was done with a lot of water and a little bit of paint. After washing over the colors with a few coats, then I painted the parts above the water with bright colors, giving it that effect of surfacing from the depths!

I really hope you enjoyed this insight into Octoportrait, from the Depths. This painting marks the end of my Estonian Collection (2017-2020). I did many other works of art during these years, but these blog posts highlight my best and brightest. I end this collection on lucky painting #13 😎

I learned a lot during this time about art and about myself and I am so glad to share it with all of you. Don't get me wrong, I am still painting and I am still in Estonia! However, I am tapping into new inspirations!

You will still be hearing from me, and you can look forward to new projects and new art collections. Until next week!

☮♥RSM.