Square-a-thon challenge #5–8

Another mix of paintings that I really love and some that could be improved. It’s all a good learning experience though.

#5 Secret Sunsets

Created with: acrylic paints

For this prompt, I figured that a sunset that no-one had seen in person was about as secret as you can get. It’s based on a NASA photograph of a sunset on Mars. I am so so happy with how this one turned out. The ground was easy, but I was initially unsure that I would be able to get the gradient of the sky right.

#6 Treasures of the Tides

Created with: rust, watercolour, Zig clean colour brush markers, gold acrylic paint, ink for stamping

This one definitely took the longest to make. The brown sand was made by dyeing the paper with rust particles sprinkled through a stencil and then splattering gold paint over it. Appropriately for the prompt, the rust came from some beachcombed metal pieces.

#7 Made of Stars

Created with: acrylic paint including two glow in the dark colours, glitter, Triple Thick gloss glaze

If I did this again, I would use a simpler outline. I wanted to use something more interesting than a basic head and shoulders shape, but I chose something too complicated. I outlined the shape in gold and filled it with splattered white paint. Then I painted over a lot of them with blue and yellow-green glow-in-the-dark pigments. To finish it off, I added a coat of gloss glaze and sprinkled glitter over while it was still wet.

#8 Flowers in your Hair

Created with: brush pen, Copic multiliner, Inktense pencils, carbon pencil, gold acrylic and pico embellisher

I used the same head outline to create this quite literal interpretation of the day’s prompt. This one was coloured in a more traditional manner though.

Challenges:

• Spring Square-a-thon