Does this piece look vaguely familiar to you? Do you feel as if you’ve seen it somewhere before? Well, look at my last blog. This is the piece the collectors of the previous commission saw, fell in love with and wanted me to paint. Just horizontal, not vertical. With Wisteria, they definitely wanted Wisteria.
Another couple also loved this painting. Everything but the Trumpet Vine. They lamented, “If only it had Wisteria draped over the doorway.” I thought to myself, “HMMMM, they may be on to something here.” Then I replied, “No problem. I can change that. It’s really a very simple process.”
The first step is to scrape off the Trumpet Vine. I place my hand flat against the back of the canvas in the area where I’m going to scrape.
Then, holding a single edge razor blade as shown above I carefully scrape off the thick texture of the orange flowers. I work the blade in a back and forth motion over the surface of the canvas. My hand placed flat on the back pushes against the canvas in the location I’m scraping. This is the trickiest part of the procedure. I don’t want to get too rambunctious with the razor blade and cut through the canvas. Now that would be a problem!
Let’s start the Wisteria. I just paint over the now smooth surface, covering the orange.
The Trumpet Vine is morphing into Wisteria! I let some of the greens from the previous foliage show through, adding to the dimension.
Invitation to Meander 36″ x 30″ Original Oil Painting
The change over is complete. It’s amazing how smart my collectors are. This is a much better painting with Wisteria over the door. The color is more muted than the Trumpet Vine, allowing the viewer’s gaze to go to the fountain and the sunlit scene beyond. Hugs, Mikki Senkarik
Website: www.senkarik.com
November 10, 2010 at 10:01 PM |
Hi Mikki,
In my retirement I took up acrylic painting.
I came across your website by chance but now I’m hooked to your work. I follow you with your very meaningful tips which I find of great help.
This one about morphing of flowers I find unbelievable. I couldn’t help but comparing the two closely.
One little comment which I present as constructive criticism:
Aren’t fallen Wisteria petals light Purple in color?
Yours
John Scerri
Canada
November 11, 2010 at 6:38 AM |
Good Morning John,
Thank you for your kind words. I’m so glad you find my blog to be helpful. You are very observant. However, the petals on the ground have fallen from the Geraniums in the pot by the door. That is one of the details my client particularly liked. He worked as a floral designer to put himself through college and Geraniums are one of his favorite flowers. The only drawback he said was he is always having to sweep the petals off of their patio!
Thank you again for reading my blog. Have a wonderful day and Happy Painting. Hugs, Mikki Senkarik
November 13, 2010 at 7:39 AM |
Mikki, I have learned from Richard Schmid about a Holbein canvas scraper that works very well for removing oil paint so that I can make changes without the risk of damaging the canvas. This is the link to that kind of scraper: http://www.black-horse.com/Products/Products.php?subcategoryID=118
My wife and I first learned of your work through Jack White, who has influenced our art marketing.