The Canvas Chronicles: Week 30

Creating art from something found

Welcome to week 30 of the Canvas Chronicles, where I create art from something thrifted or found.

My Canvas

This week we’re going with another GoodWill find.

My Inspiration

About a week ago my friend and I traveled to Amsterdam, and I am still very much inspired.

As I looked through our trip photos, this one caught my eye. I’ll probably crop it a bit to focus on the interaction between the two men.

Of course, we had to stop at the Van Gogh museum while we were there.

I learned that he didn’t pursue art until he was 27 years old. I’m currently 27 so it was really interesting to view his art through that lens. Also a nice reminder that it’s never too late to pursue, or even discover, your passion in life.

Much of his focus was painting the '“ordinary,” or seemingly mundane. Perhaps that’s why I gravitated towards the fish market scene, because it’s something Van Gogh may have chosen.

I also didn’t realize the role complimentary colors played in his paintings. His strategic choice in color added vivid contrast, and brought his works to life.

I especially loved this little yarn box that he used to test color combinations because paint was too expensive.

I wanted to incorporate this contrast, along with his signature short brush strokes, to channel my inner Van Gogh this week.

My Process

I started by prepping my canvas with white gesso, and got to work sketching out the scene loosely with red acrylic.

Then I created a more detailed (but still pretty loose) layer of blue.

Once the blue layer was finished I added short strokes of oil paint, starting first with a light yellow, and then red.

I then added orange and green, and continued to add detail with small brushstrokes.

The Final Piece

In the end the two complimentary color combinations that I used most were red and green, and then blue and orange.

This was definitely a fun challenge, I really pushed myself out of my normal comfort zone, but I love how it turned out!

If anything, I might make some of the buildings different colors, instead of keeping them all red. I think it will add that Amsterdam architectural charm back, but for now here she is!

Thanks for reading! Until next week.