Azure
CLIENTMr. Louie Ang
PROJECT BRIEFCreate a traditional acrylic painting on canvas of client’s Red Arowana; A4-size with frame
Mr. Ang has a wide variety of pets. From dogs to birds to sharks – it’s always been a little crazy imagining it in our heads. Still, he’s very passionate when it comes to his hobbies especially when it comes to anything that has fins and swims. One of his favorites: his prized red Arowana. In a random hang out, he asked if I still do acrylic paintings; I said yes but confessed that I’ve never painted on canvas before, only on wood.
Before I started on the sketch, Louie sent me a video of his Arowana & a photo reference of the pose of the fish that he wanted. I struggled a bit on the snout as Arowanas have a weird sort of anatomy – the snout looks sharp when viewed from above or the sides. Once it’s facing front though, it looks sort of blunt or curved. This resulted in many sketches and revisions. Fortunately, the sketch was approved & I was able to transfer it to the canvas.
The canvas took in the watercolors I applied to it very well. It made some very interesting washes - the blending of the paints when they intersected was terrific. Still, this was an acrylic painting so I had to paint over it with acrylic paint. The watercolor serves as a guide for me on where to put the colors when I’m finally laying out the base acrylics.
The end result, framed! This is my very first painting that’s been framed and I’m pretty proud of that fact! Honestly kind of surreal to see it encased in glass!