A couple of months ago I made the mistake of submitting a painting that didn’t exist yet for an art show. And being the procrastinator I am, I stayed up until 2am finishing the painting in order to turn it in for the show the next day. I definitely had a few college/illustration academy flashbacks.
I decided to do this painting because I really, really wanted to paint the cupcakes. I think maybe I thought it would be almost as good as eating them. (Perhaps this could be a new form of diet/art therapy?) The rainbow sprinkles were fun for sure, but I really liked painting the cab too. Overall this painting did not turn out the way I wanted, but I am starting to realize I’ve been lazy and skipping important parts in the planning process that normally contribute to a successful illustration.
BTW, I love that the sign maker got coffee and chocolate right but still managed to misspell “or.”
Here’s my initial sketch. Instead of sketching in my sketchbook and then transferring the sketch to the acrylic paper (and ultimately growing bored with the illustration before I even start painting) I just sketched directly onto the acrylic paper.
I also tried something else new. I learned that Mark Teague does a burnt sienna underpainting, then paints in the shadows with gray and highlights with gesso. I decided to try this, and by the time I had finished this portion of it I was a little sick of painting.
So I put it off…until the night before I had to turn it in. I originally intended to paint the color portion with my brand new gouache paints, but since I was in a rush I decided to go with acrylic (I’ve never used gouache before). About halfway through the acrylics began to annoy me so I switched to trusty oils. Since oils take a long time to dry, I put my painting in a low-temperature oven to speed dry it. (A tip that saved my ass many times in college.)
