Watercolors
9x13 inches
For prints, and closeup detail views of this piece: -click here-
More of the Dreamdance Oracle: -click here-
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Satyros Phil Brucato writes about this card:
The Garden of Love features rich delights and passionate pitfalls.
Dancing there, we see little beyond the face of our Beloved. Yet life
goes on around us – sometimes drawn to watch or support us, other times
to trip us up or simply ignore our existence. Beauty is the order of the
day, at least when we first begin that Dance. Where it takes us and
what happens as a result remains a mystery as unpredictable as the maze
of emotions evoked by Love.
Capturing the vitality of love and life, salsa dancing is hot,
passionate and often improvisational. Following several traditional
steps, the Dancers take off from there and let awareness of one another
guide them through the flow. In the blur of that dance, however, it’s a
good idea to keep your eyes open and your perceptions focused on your
surroundings as well as on your partner. Not everyone will have your
best interests at heart, and even the most supportive people can become
obstacles. Guided only by passionate energy, it’s easy to trip, hurt
people, or otherwise make a fool of yourself. Dance joyfully but with
care through the Garden of Love.
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Initial brainstorming in the sketchbook
Didn't like the first couple of scribbles...looked too much like a Harlequin romance novel cover. I never realized how much salsa poses resembled that!
Finalized sketch on the board, ready for painting.
After surveying the thumbnails of the cards I had so far, I realized what I really needed was some more warm colors in my cards. Didn't want them to all start looking alike. And so...tried this color rough in photoshop to get a feel with some pinks and magentas and oranges and reds.... I'm finding that doing these color roughs are really good for me. They help me break out of my established color palette patterns and try combinations that I would not initially have thought of.
Getting started with the painting.
Thank you for sharing all of these wonderful photos. It's so much fun to see the process that artists go through when creating work like this ;D
ReplyDeletewow! that's just great. i am a frustrated visual artist and i don't even have any idea on how to start doing things like this. thanks for the share though.
ReplyDeleteI don't think that you usually use this color scheme. I'm loving it! I hope to see more like this.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I don't usually like pinks and oranges.
ReplyDeleteI am not a painter, but your book "Magical Menagerie" is very useful. Two days ago I have bought the book because of the beautiful illustrations inside. I took a sketch book and step-by-step draw different types of fish and a sea horse. May be, after my work on part of Waters I`ll draw my own fantasy picture, I believe.
ReplyDeleteYou are in a good spirit in many cases.
Thank you Marina! It is always wonderful to hear that my books have inspired someone!
ReplyDeleteMay be it can be interesting to you... how your paint can transforms in another hands... mm...I just learning how to create smth like you do. Hope, that you like it :)
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You inspire thousands of us Stephanie. I wrote you about how you inspire me and helped me with my situation through your art and instruction. You are a blessing and a gift to so many. You add color and fantasy in otherwise what could be a dreary colorless world. Thank you
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