SEE “GHOST” PROGRESS from start to finish.

A dog in a translucent medical collar looks ghostly. His two companions in dark profile, counterbalance the composition in this black and white acrylic painting by Elizabeth (Lisa) Petrulis.
Ghost, 2015 re 2017, Dog Studies, Medical Collar Series, acrylic on canvas, 30 x 24 x 1 1/4”

See the painting Ghost, from the Medical Collar Series, progress from photos to finished painting.The video below uses stop motion or stills to show my process from composing with reference photos through drawing and layering paint.

Today I do most of the photo manipulation digitally. And I have a much better camera. Since the painting evolved over 3 years it also represents changes in my painting technique. Mind you I was not painting on it the whole time. It was several months, even a year, between paint applications.

It began with just black acrylic washes layered to build up the dark areas.  Then the technique evolved into mixing values, using various acrylic mediums, and interleaving white, grays and black.

Though I appreciate the discipline of a strict technique, I felt freed up and relieved to be able to correct areas.

I went back into the painting after I thought I was finished because something was not right. Something was bothering me. You can see I changed the angle of Dino’s head and added highlights on the eyes and faces of Mookie and Doug. Here are a few images showing key changes along the way. Find the video below these pics.

See the video about Megaphone. See the Medical Collar series portfolio. 

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.