Portrait #3 (my first order)

Kids and best friends, with the world as a playground. Years go by. In all of a sudden we are grown ups and all we have left is memories. We tend to remember the good times and forget about the bad, and I think that is why we sometimes glorify the past when we should be living in the present.

I could not help smiling when my childhood best friend asked me to paint a portrait of her daughter. My answer was a big, happy 'yes'. Of course I wanted to, and that is how she became my first customer. Here below are some pictures of Nova and my painting. Feel free to tell me what you think.

1. The original.

2. Work in progress.

 

3. The final result (almost).

In the very last minute I adjusted the shadow on Nova's nose, it looked a bit askew just between her eyes. Unfortunately, this small correction is not in the picture so you will have to imagine it. Hope that is okay.

♥ Ela

Portrait #2 (the sister)

The crispy air and the colors of autumn, I just love it. Whenever feeling a bit down, a walk among the fallen leaves cheers me up and calms me down at the same time. Autumn is definitively my favorite season.

Now, what I actually wanted to show you guys was my second portrait, so here it comes. Nellie quite naturally became the next painting project since she is the sister of Hampus. A sweetie, is she not?

1. The photo.

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2. The sketch.

3. The final result.

This portrait took me about three weeks to finish. Three weeks of late nights and many tired yawns at work the mornings after, that is. As much as I would like to spend my whole days painting it is not possible at the moment, I have a full time job that has to come in first place. Anyways, feel free to tell me what you think!

♥ Ela

The studio (under construction)

At work time crawls like a bloody snail crossing a country road. And then, as soon as I put my foot at home, it is like some annoying wizard has put a spell on me because suddenly time flies by. Until it is time for work again. I wish it was the other way around.

Yesterday after finishing my eight hours, I drove the half hour way to my boyfriend. Well at his house we started renovating a room that is becoming my studio (did I mention that I am getting my own studio at his place? And that it was his idea? ♥).

My studio, under construction.

I am so excited, and absolutely love the idea of having a calm place to paint in! Decorating the room is going to be so much fun. I promise to keep you guys updated with pictures of the progress.

♥ Ela

Portrait #1 (behind the scene)

A rainy day, sore throat and persistent headache, life is not always perfect. I sort of like the rain though, it gives me a reason to put on that big, old sweater, those warm pair of socks and cuddle up in the sofa with a warm cup of herbal tea.

Thought I would share some behind the scene-pictures with you guys. I spend hours and hours on my paintings, every single detail needs to be perfect before I am satisfied. To me one important step is to draw up a grid on the original photo as well as on the canvas, and then outline the basic shapes with a pencil. It is very important to get the proportions right, otherwise you will end up with a messed up picture and once you have started with the acrylic paint it is much harder to make corrections.

1. Using the grid as guidelines.

2. Work in progress.

So far I have focused on only black and white colour, and I love it. Experimenting with shadows is good fun and the result often get beautiful! (See my previous blogpost for the end result.)

♥ Ela

Portrait #1 (or how it all began)

One day, about a year and a half ago, I got a strong and sudden desire to paint so I went to the little bookshop in our town and bought a starter set of acrylic paint and brushes. One of my attributes (that I am not very proud of, but am working on to improve), is that I love starting up projects that unfortunately ends up only half finished because I loose interest so quickly. Which is why this painting that I really, really wanted to do still took me a whole year to complete.

Me and my boyfriend started dating about the end of that year, and when he saw my painting he got a little curious and asked me to do a portrait of his son. I thougt Why the hell not?, and that is the beginning of the story.

This is my Portrait #1. It is painted with black and white acrylic paint on what I think is a L15-sized canvas. The name of the adorable boy with the ingenious smile is Hampus.

♥ Ela

A fresh start

I have just recently found a new passion in life. Painting. When holding a brush in my hand, carefully attempting to build up a pattern on my canvas (a cute little face, a field of colourful flowers and green grass or whatever it is I am working on at the moment) time literally flies by. I love to paint and cannot believe that it took me 28 years to discover.

This blog has served as my sort of non-private diary before, but from now on it will be my channel for art and creativeness. I will show you guys my paintings, collect inspiration and share my thoughts and ideas on the subject. Although my mother language is swedish I have decided to write in english. It somehow seems more suitable, plus I get to practice my language skills.

This is a fresh start of my blog, a new direction, and I really hope you will like it.