It has been a little while that I was in your inbox, sorry about that. Hopefully you missed me ;-)
I tend to get really into the art I'm making or will make (all the ideas in my head), and don't realize that so much time has flown by. I'm a better painter than I'm a writer.
The piece featured in this email is special to my heart because it represents Ganesh. Ganesh is my favorite Deity by far. I feel like I can relate to him. He's accessible and radiates goodness. I think I'm not the only one: Ganesh might be the most beloved God in Hinduism and it is customary to start any ceremony by honoring Ganesh, as well as put a representation of Ganesh at the entrance of the house. Ganesh is the remover of obstacles and is a protector. He will make sure that the home is protected and that the ceremony goes along smoothly. He's also really cool looking with his elephant head. If you'd like to read the story about how Ganesh got his elephant head click here.
For this piece, there has been a lot of back and forth at the sketch stage. The main reason was that I wanted to create a Ganesh that was "traditional" in characteristics and pose, but wanted something that was a bit new and "mine. I didn't want to straight up copy what other artists had done along the centuries. It took a little while to find a happy medium. Part of it was coming from this idea I had of creating a 3 headed Ganesh just like Vishnu. Here is the final sketch I made on iPad pro with the Procreate app:
Then I took the sketch I made on Procreate and used a projector to project the outline on a canvas. I had painted the background of the canvas prior with a mix of gold and blue that I applied with paintbrushes, sponge and fingers. The projector part is not required (I usually don't use this technique unless it's a mural or really big canvas), but it speeds up the process and gives me more control of the size and positioning. And honestly, it had been a hard enough process finalizing the sketch that I didn't want to do that again!
I also spent some time coloring the Ganesh sketch I had made on Procreate. I tried a new technique on the iPad that was fun (and that is supposed to save you time, but because it was my first time it probably took a lot longer!). I was so pleased with the result that I took the colored drawing and ordered some die cut stickers from Stickermule, an awesome print company (they are up for sale on Etsy here).
I finished outlining and adding details to the painting in pearl paint. And this is the result!
Acrylic on canvas 18x18in. Gallery quality canvas and professional grade paint - protected by archival varnish and ready to hang (wire in the back). More information here.
