This piece was my eighteen hour exam for Art GCSE. It got me an A! It is definitely the most technical and time-consuming canvas I’ve ever done. After all, it took me eighteen hours to do. It was the first thing I’ve ever been proud of. My theme was nature so, as my final piece, it made sense to paint the world.
Studying Google Earth
I used a large bowl (that was conveniently on a shelf in my secondary school’s art cupboard) to get the perfect circle. I then used Google Earth to sketch and paint the landmasses. To blend the colours as I wanted, I kept the canvas and paint very wet. I thinned the acrylic paint down so much it seemed like watercolour. I would have used watercolour in the first place, but it wasn’t the texture I wanted and it is harder to control.
The most difficult part of this painting was the ocean. I wanted to show the depth changes that showed on Google Earth, but it was hard to see and change to the sale of my planet. Getting the correct shade of blue was annoying, and mixing more after I ran out was even more so. Matching shades has never been my strong suit, but by remembering exactly what I used the first time, I think I’m improving.
I used gorilla glue to stick on the two small canvas. This was to imply the overlapping universes or folds in the unaverse. I also used glow-in-the-dark paint around the edges of the planet, and brushed through the stars. I had never used glow-in-the-dark paint before, and it was amazing to watch it glow, honestly, I didn’t expect it to work! The hands are also covered in the glowing paint. They weren’t planned to be a part of the piece, but my teacher said that I needed another element. I’m glad I added them. It looks wonderful.
Supplies used
- Medium canvas
- Small canvas x2
- Acrylic
- Black, Blue, Dark green, Burnt sienna, Yellow, White, Glow-in-the-dark
- Paintbrushes
- Bowl
- Gorilla glue