Painting Challenge

As Brittany and I have been doing a lot of art lately we've noticed that we have very different styles of expression. It took me awhile to figure it out but finally I narrowed it down to this: Brittany draws with more of a focus on the lines and I draw with more of a focus on the spaces.
Upon this realization we decided it would be fun for each of us to draw the same picture just see how different our perspectives are. Brittany found a lovely painting to copy and we sat down one night at the table, supplies all around us, papers in front of us... brushes in hand.

First step was an outline...

Brittany's sketch:


My sketch:


The next step was to start painting...

 

I always learn new art techniques when I'm with Brittany. I always thought paint was paint and you simply applied it to your paper. Not so. Brittany mixed her colors down with water to give the picture a softer look. I really liked it!

Brittany's painting halfway done:

 

My painting halfway done:

For me the hard part came at the end. Adding the finishing touches, knowing that you can't change a whole lot but that even the little brush strokes make a huge difference and can dramatically help or hurt.

Here's the original masterpiece:

Here is Brittany's finished painting. I love how she had ripped her tape that she used for edging the paper. It gave it a really neat effect!

Here's my finished painting. 

It is fantastic to see the end results!! Definitely as we suspected... Brittany worked the lines and I was working the space. It was good my taped edge was straight because it added stability to my painting. Brittany's ripped tape added character to her picture. I also think it's interesting that her initial sketch started out as dark and pronounced and ended up soft with pale tones, whereas my sketch was light and soft and ended up in dark, bold tones.

What a fun adventure art can be! Until next time...