Finally Finished: Red in the Woods

It has been floating around in my head unfinished for a very long time. I’ve liked the idea of the little red riding hood story for a long time. Last september after Burning Man at Turning the Wheel’s Sound Dance Workshop I came up with a composition. I pictured three wolves at the top with Red coming towards them. I had two large canvases that I had been holding onto for almost a year that would work well for the piece. However I didn’t start the painting until I moved to Chicago earlier this year. Here are the initial sketches for the painting:

I followed the steps I outlined in the second sketch pretty closely. I created a background with paint and texture. I painted on my figures, and then I embellished the piece. I struggled a long time with the center of the composition to get it to feel unified. I think I might revisit this idea again in the future and see if I can get something closer to what I originally had in my head. Like the original sketch remarks, I think watercolor may have more of the effect I wanted.

I used this table cloth to create the pattern on Red’s cloak

Everything painted in except the hand and lantern.

Added more texture, painted lantern, created depth on the wolves.

Added the lights to the lantern. It really brought the two halves of the painting together.

#2014 #Acrylic #Fairytale #TissuePaper