Preparation
I was a bit set back by this task as I really wanted to explore what and how I could create a story. I explored my photo albums and explored what images could fit the brief.
I ended up loosely sketching four images. (From left to right, Up then down) 1. Two ladies laughing, sitting on a sofa 2. A lady blowing out candles on her birthday cake. 3. A young boy and man playing checkers 4. A man rowing a boat in a canal.
I chose the lady blowing out candles on her birthday cake. This image is a still from a video which I felt would allow me to create a better painting. Due to the lighting this image will be overall dark toned with a glow from the candles.
I chose to crop the image down and I will not include the shelves in the background. I think I will include the colours and add some shadow to really bring the focus to my model. I am also planning to paint my model in the action of blowing, which I should be able to define better with the glow around the candles.
Sketchbook sketch 
Arm focused sketch 
Preparatory sketch on paper
Comfortable with the plan, I chose to work with a ‘acrylic’ paper over canvas or canvas board. I actually felt a lot more confident starting this painting.
My preparation drawings was focused on the arm due to the heavy tattoos, I wanted to see how well I could recreate such a heavy filled arm.
Creating the painting
Due to issues I have had when creating previous paintings, I wanted to focus first by filling the background. It is a magnolia wall but with dark lighting, I created the magnolia first then darkened to a tone I felt was right. I loosely painting the hardwood floor as I know I will need to edit it later depending on how much detail I want to show.
Skin tone – Create a palette of yellow ochre, crimson, ultramarine, burnt sienna and titanium white. To create the representation of candles I created a visibly darker tone so I was able to add lighter tones on top of that to show the light coming from the candles.
The denim is very dark throughout the video and in the still and I wanted to fully develop the right tones that would allow us to fully see the creases and folds. This is where I used the most amount of slow-dry medium.
Next, I created the browns I would use to make the top and hair. When painting where the top and hair meet I left a loose edge to allow me to define the lines when I focus on the hair. The brown creates a very dark shadow under the breast and I added the hem details which I also created the same tones in the hair as I noticed how brown the ends looked and will add loose hair details later. I created some light grey and brown tones to paint the chair which leads me to painting the table in preparation for the cake.
I really enjoyed creating the cake. What a defining moment for the painting, I used multiple micro brushes and payed close attention to the tiny details of the roses and leaves. I added some details to the background as I realised completely blanking out the background made the image look more posed rather than natural.
Most daunting part of this entire painting, recreating the tattoos using my sketch and multiple images as a guide. I used a watered down mars black to create all the major shapes and lines. I then followed those lines with a thicker mars black.
I am so pleased with this painting, I feel as though I am right there with the model watching her blow out candles. The view is restricted so the viewers is focused on this moment but also has details that allow the viewer to explore the heavily tattooed arms and the possibility of what is on the painting in the background. The colours are dark but I feel the candles add a glow to the image which brightens it up both visually and emotionally.
What I have learned?
I need to grasp how to create better lines, my work towards the floor is messy and just not very visually pleasing. I really enjoy creating bold tonal changes and heavy shadow in a painting. I would like to try and work a bit bigger as I think most of the pieces I have created so far for this course have been A2 down. I would like to explore some tiny details in a very large space.
B-log 