How to Progressives

Awakening #6 is a new original print that I just finished. My usual way of creating these is to start with an image of a painting and rework it in Affinity Photo – my preferred image editing software – and merge in some astronomical photos. It is a fun process that can lead to unexpected discoveries that I would not have thought to paint originally but will influence future paintings.

In this case, the color pallet is brighter and more varied than my paintings tend to be. And the astronomical element is more minimal and also more distinct – if not readily recognized.

I thought it might be interesting to share how this piece came together.  Here we go…

I liked the composition of this cropped portion of my painting Soul Mates # 7.

Awakening #6 progressive #1

I manipulated various color tools until I arrived at an interesting pallet to start from.

Awakening #6 progressive #2

I sandwiched the two above images (layered in photo jargon) and then began erasing the above image…

Awakening #6 progressive #3

…to let some of the bottom image show through.

(Oops. I forgot to save a progressive image of this step. But you can see what I did below)

Next, I created a duplicate layer, erased the circle as shown, and manipulated the color in the remaining area.

It is now more purple and green. You can also see the section from the right-hand circle that has the original bottom image showing through.

Awakening #6 progressive #5

Here is the flattened (all layers together) artwork so far with many areas reworked.

Notice the glow around the yellow circle, and that the right circle is eliminated. Many, many small tweaks.

Awakening #6 progressive #6

Then I made some more subtle color adjustments and sharpened the image.

And more tweaks until everything looked just right.

Awakening #6 progressive #7

Here I have made my first attempt at adding the “burst” – the action happening in the artwork.

This is the result of considerable work. But ultimately rejected. The First Critic (wife) thought it looked too phallic – and I could not unsee that. The sharp-eyed may notice that this was done before the previous step was fully resolved.

Awakening #6 progressive #8

I couldn’t find anything in my files that I liked, so I did an internet search until I found this:

It’s from the Hubble telescope, paid for with our tax dollars, and so in the public domain.

9-Cygnus-Supernova-Blast-Wave

Erase the background, rotate, color change, paste:

Awakening #6 progressive #9

And it did look pasted on.

Some softening of edges, softening of color, and subtle transparency made it blend in nicely.

Finished piece with signature added

And that’s it!

I hope you found this narrative informative and entertaining. Prints of Awakening #6 on paper, canvas, and metal are now available for purchase. Choose your size – 12″ up to a whopping 6 feet!
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