Blog: The Process - Absolutely Delicious

Featured image: Absolutely Delicious

I have been asked by many folks about my process. Because the process varies with each unique piece, it's a very hard question to answer. Plus, it also means that I have to document the process. This means that I have to stop during the process to take a photo. For the piece titled ,“Absolutely Delicious,” even coming up with the title was a process. I kept on saying to myself as I was finishing it it, "This work is delicious, absolutely delicious." So, I named it “Absolutely delicious.” As I put layer after layer of paint on the piece, it felt like thick thick frosting on a cake. If you have ever seen or eaten a cake that I've decorated and frosted it is thick, gooey and oozing with peaks of sugar frosting. There is nothing controlled about the frosting on my cakes, they look just like the one I painted for myself this year for my birthday.

Birthday Cake by Christine Alfery

Anyway, there are many many layers of paint on the piece, “Absolutely Delicious.” There's not only the 15 plus layers of paint to create the sunflowers but the approximately 15 layers of paint underneath the sunflowers that I painted over because I no longer liked it.

The process- In the layer 1 photo that I photographed, I put on some background colors – major colors that I knew would be in the piece. These colors were painted over the pencil sketch I first placed on the white canvas. I placed this color generally and with very watered-down colors. In layer 2, I came in with a brush and painted the shapes of the leaves and the flowers. Layer 3, I added more color and defined the shapes more. In layer 4 I took out some color and in layer 6, I took out more color and continued to define the shapes of the sunflower. Layer 12, I took out more color and began to add details. Then, with layer 15 – finished work.