This week I finished my Sleep Tight Parker painting for my son and I’m so excited with how it turned out that I wanted to detail the process and celebrate the cute little painting I made for him.
The Sketch
When I was painting my daughters I went with a very simple design and I think I’m just in this busy, maximalism state of mind so when I was sketching Parker’s I really wanted something that vibed that.
I love quilted sweaters and jackets so his pajamas is inspired by Camimade Patterns. I saved this pattern to my Pinterest board ages ago and although I can’t sew or quilt I thought I could paint my children in these beautiful outfits that I wish I could make them.
Here was the first sketch. Originally I had planned a star-themed pillow with a green gingham pattern bedding and a terracotta colored blanket.
I also originally wanted more green in the painting but with the star/night theme I thought blue was better.
I did a color study in colored pencil to see what direction I wanted to go.
Painting
Painting this was truly therapeutic! As you can see from the sketch I did change things up. I ended up going with a dark blue for the background and a green gingham pattern for the pillow. I didn’t want to pull focus away from his pajamas or the blanket and I was worried there wouldn’t be enough contrast between his head and the pillow if I went with a terracotta color.
I was really trying to go for a simple color palette and I kind of did - blue, green, and terracotta are the main color groups.
I picked up Coral Red, Pure Red, Ash Blue and Ash Yellow the other day and the new colors were perfect! The Ash Blue and Ash Yellow are really pretty.
To get the varying hues in blue, terracotta and green I did small mixings.
Adding Details
Adding details was the final touch. I did some samples on my paper to see how Neocolors II’s and colored pencils would look on top.
I used colored pencils on his pajamas, blanket and outline to add a bit of an outline.
I then used a Neocolor II in white to do the title.
I also used Liquitex Acrylic Ink in Carbon Black with a Sailor Dip Pen for the nose and eyes.
The Final Piece
Like I said earlier, I love how this piece turned out. I framed it and placed it by his red light and sound machine.
I love it so much I kind of what to re-do my daughters cause I learned a lot while making this one. If I do redo hers I’ll detail it here :)
xoxo,
Robynne