Painting Daily Oil Sketch No.2 Damselfly Photo Realism Update: another layer of background color applied & detail begins! Not for sale.

Loads more work to be done on background, damselfly & stick.... highlights begin to build.... more detail, more color.... etc! Starting to come alive ;0)

I am mapping in the background and trust me..... it will look a lot better soon! You'll notice that I have covered some of the detail in the damselfly but after taking this photo I was back to work.... cleaning it up before setting it aside for another day ;0) Normally I would have planned the background prior to beginning the painting but since the original photo was taken on a back porch deck..... well after starting it already I decided a trip to the local pond was needed! Algae and beautiful reflections might look more interesting. One great thing about painting in oils is that you can paint right over top in the event you change your mind. Next time you see this painting it will be completed and appear very different than it does right now. I'll be back!

The colors I have used thus far are as follows: Burnt Sienna, Payne's Gray, Ultramarine Violet, and Titanium White. I use filbert brushes for the most part since the painting is small (for linear detail) and also to achieve photo realism. Brush strokes are smoothed so they won't show.

After the drawing of Sienna/turp wash was dry I applied a second layer of paint on the background... even actually covering the damselfly body. While wet I immediately used a small filbert dipped in turpentine (wiped almost dry with a kimwipe) to clean up my initial drawing except for the wings. Since the background paint was not applied thickly over the wings drawing it still shows through for future reference.

While this new layer of background is drying I will now move on to the stick and then to the damselfly for detail work. Oh those wings.... so intricate! Tomorrow if the background is dry I will apply transparent glazes to it to achieve proper color and tone; complete the detail in the stick and insect, then allow all to dry for application of highlights. If all goes well it should be on eBay in a few days.

Some advice: Kimwipes are awesome for wiping and cleaning small brushes.... dust free!

The Damselfly is closely related to the Dragonfly.

Carolyn Hietala