This was my second painting for the Montessori school auction. You can read more about that and see my first painting on this post.
Again, I started with the sketch and color palette.

Then I was off to play on the background. I began with very watery paint, blended them together, and finally added texture designs with stamps and stencils.



Since this was my second painting, I changed my plan a little based on what I learned in the first painting. On the sketch, you'll notice lots of swirls and tattoo designs. As much as I like these, they'll just have to visit us in another painting. I learned that for this painting technique, the images need to be bigger, even huge! So I let the birds take up majority of the space, leaving just enough room for the sun & moon in the upper corner.
So I sketched my images with pencil before painting them.

Then the painting process began. I'll let the progression of photos speak for themselves. Basically, I chose a color for each area and did some dripping and gradual darkening as the color got closer to the bird. I even added black to these areas at the very end.


On the image below, you can see the added black paint (very watered down)-


I sprayed on several colors of Glimmer Mists, but had to be careful with the clear "Dazzinling Diamonds" color. It almost dulled the brightness of the acrylic paint colors. I grabbed a wet rag and wiped it some of the areas. I liked the shimmer look it added in certain places, just not all over.


Here are the two canvases, side by side. The backgrounds and then the finished pieces.

The finished painting:
The title is "We Are Part of Something Bigger". The attached description reads:
There is a strong need to teach our children that they really are part of something bigger. Our world is about relationships and discovering how we are all connected and help one another. This painting was created with this thought in mind, along with one of my favorite quotes from Maria Montessori in The Absorbent Mind:
“So in the child, besides the vital impulse to create himself or herself, there must be yet another purpose, a duty to fulfill in harmony with the universe, something to do in the service of the united whole.”