I used to paint canvases all the time, I hadn’t in a few years. Since my painting skills have improved over the years, I decided it was time to get back to it.
Where do I get my canvases?
Michaels is a great source for good canvases, at least for someone who doesn’t paint exclusively for their career. They often have wonderful bulk discounts, and the canvases come primed, the corners are smooth, and the base is stretched tightly. Earlier last year, I purchased a 12-pack of 10″x10″ level 3 canvases for a great price, but they had been in their storage container for far too long.
Deciding what to paint
VANELLOPE (WRECK IT RALPH)
I knew I wanted to stick to animated characters, but I didn’t want to limit myself to a particular style. When I decided I was going to paint fictional characters, I asked my mom if she had a preference. She selected Vanellope von Schweetz as my first subject. For those of you who don’t know who that is, Vanellope is a quirky and energetic character from the Disney animated movie, Wreck it Ralph. She is an outcast racer in a racing arcade game with a candyland style. Since she is a 3-D animated character, I at first worried I would be unable to capture her energy and adorable appearance.
SESSHOMARU (INUYASHA)
Next I asked some friends to tell me who some of their favorite animated characters were. One of the girls recommended a few anime characters who were familiar to me. As soon as she gave me her list, I just had to paint Sesshomaru. Sesshomaru is a character from the Japanese anime, “Inuyasha”. He is the demon half-brother of the titular character. He is an antagonist at the start, but eventually became a common fan favorite due to a subtle shift in his nature. He was actually a little more difficult to paint because of the many line details, but I was happy with the result.
PIKACHU (POKEMON)
Another recommendation from a friend was to paint Pokemon characters. As someone who only watched the first two movies and played one of the nintendo ds games, but never watched the show very much, I am not familiar with many of the Pokemon. But it’s impossible not to know who Pikachu is, so I decided he would be the first to paint. Pikachi was definitely the easiest of these three characters to paint due to the simple 2-D animated style.
Capturing the process
Painting reels are everywhere, so I of course had to record my own. I’m still working on ways to improve how I record the process, but for now I was able to get some of Vanellope and Pikachu.
Where to find future Paintings
Of course I am planning on continuing to paint characters in the future, and hopefully improve the recording process. If you’re interested in seeing these youtube shorts in the future, you can find the link to my youtube channel on the homepage, or click here to find it.
If you aren’t interested in watching the videos, but do want to buy one of these paintings, you can find them on my other Etsy, Stargazer Artistry. The painting prices vary based on how much time was spent on them. Have a character you want to see painted? Comment below or on any of the youtube shorts. Want to order a custom character painting? Email me at stargazerartistryus@gmail.com or message my on the Stargazer Artistry Etsy.
Jasmin De Anda 