Painted this one on a black gesso canvas. I’ve found that painting the whole canvas black, drawing a perfect circle with a white lead pencil, then painting the circle white is much easier than fooling with contact paper. I used gray gesso and a sponge to create the dark spots on the Moon.
Thank you Sunnylady! Out of my many paintings, this one I enjoy as it really stands out on the wall.
What a great technique for your moon. It turned out amazing! Thanks for sharing the technique, definitely something I want to try.
Thank you doggymommee! Another benefit of painting the moon with white over the black is it’s easy to allow some of the black to show through the white in spots. As Bob would say “it looks like you worked yourself to death” when actually it was simple.
I used straight liquid black on the trees with limbs which worked well.
Variation of color on the moon makes it look so realistic!
Thanks Lzicchinella. I really swerved into that color variation by painting the white gesso moon over the black gesso. I was able to allow some black to easily show through in various shades.
This one makes me think of a fantasy scene, a Hallmark holiday card, or even a scene from a children's book. It's really well done. Your moon is very striking and beautiful, but I also really like how you made your soft, colorful grassy areas and those evergreens. I think the evergreens stick out to me the most, with all of their individual hanging snow covers limbs. Which brush did you use for your evergreens? I find as time goes on and I keep using fan brushes, I am somehow regressing in my evergreen painting skills.
Thank you so much lightsnow. I even put a little glitter on the water in this fantasy land but you can’t see it here.
I’ve struggled with the fan brush pines also. Dracula has an excellent post on creating realistic fan brush pines so I’ve used his tips on more recent paintings.
These were done with the tip of a somewhat worn Princeton Catalyst Polytip Brush - Filbert, Size 2, Short Handle. I like the look of these too.
Wow. Stunning moon with dimension. My eyes push past everything else to get to the moon which appears to hang there in the sky just like the real thing does. Great job, and great tips, thank you, I can't wait to try it. Infact, I'm off to dig out an old dinner plate right now.
I love ALL of your paintings, but this caught my eye---such contrasts and mysterious feel. Using the sponge to make the crators on the moon is a brilliant idea. Using lead pencil does not smudge with the painting or the do outlines show up later? I was wondering what medium to use to outline. Thank you!
Thank you so much Keiko 😊.
This entire canvas is coated with black gesso. I found a round lid the size I wanted the Moon and used a white lead mechanical sewing pencil such as this: https://www.amazon.com/Dritz-7757-Porter-Mechanical-Fabric/dp/B001UAKL4Y/ref=sr_1_19?crid=9WDYLS0LZDUC&dchild=1&keywords=white+chalk+sewing+markers&qid=1600607089&sprefix=White+chalk+sewing%2Caps%2C176&sr=8-19
to draw around the lid. I then brushed in the Moon with white gesso leaving some grayish areas showing, then mixed a little grey and white gesso and applied with a small piece of sponge to add the darker areas. I used a Moon photo as reference.
After it was dry I applied a thin coat of Prussian Blue to the entire canvas staying clear of the edge of the Moon. Didn’t want a green Moon. Hope this helps!
Fantastic - love all of it!
Thank you JoJo!
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I was watching full moon these couple of evenings out of my window. Your moon is awesome!
The grass gives the coziest feeling it looks like a warm woven blanket gently covering the ground and keeping it warm.