My Pink Butterfly

My Pink Butterfly

40 cm X 40 cm

Oil on canvass

Artist: Tenette Peralta-Racho

This painting was an inspiration by a dear friend here in Jakarta. She gave me a picture of a butterfly. That picture made me paint this beautiful butterfly that i call my trademark. She even made a poem about My Pink Butterfly.


I love butterflies. The reason i love them is because i compare myself to a butterfly. Before it becomes a beautiful butterfly, it undergoes many stages. The metamorphosis of a butterfly is amazing. From an egg,  to a caterpillar, to a chrysalis then it emerges into a beautiful butterfly ready to spread its wings and fly.
I was once a shy and over protected young lady. My parents were so overprotective that they gave me the comforts in life. I never learned how to do things.  When i was in high school, i always compare myself to the other girls in my school. To me, they were all brighter than i am. I never tried to excel in high school. Although at the end of the year i saw that my grades were good.  But then i still did not believe in myself. I thought, i was not a smart girl and that i was a nobody. When i went to college, i began to excel in my school but still i was just one of them. But when i started working, it was my time to do my best. My first boss believed in me so i had to live up to her expectations. Then  people started believing in me. I gained my self confidence. From then on, i learned to be the best that i can be for the world. I tried everything that people my age would feel inadequate of doing. I became more technical, i tried everything that i could hold on too. I tried experimenting and i did not fail myself. I proved people that i was good enough.
Today, to further enhance myself and to keep on learning, I enrolled in a mentoring program for on line marketing, blogging and working as a virtual assistant. I also do stock market investments. And most of all., i am so proud to say that I am now an ARTIST - a painter.
So now, we can see that from a small cocoon a butterfly emerges.
Let us continue believing in ourselves that the BEST is yet to come.
And that no matter how old we are - we can still learn new things.

Painting Canvass

Did you know that the board that painters use to paint is called a canvass? According to Merriam-Webster , a canvass is a piece of cloth backed or framed as a surface for painting. I used a canvass that is primed and pre-stretch. What does this mean?
 A primed canvass is a canvass wherein a primer has been applied. Below is how a primed canvass and an unprimed one looks like.

theoilpaintstore.com

The primer applied prepares the surface for painting. This is particularly necessary if you are using oil as your medium. Because the oil in the paint will not rot your canvass and the paint will not soak your canvass since a canvass is an absorbent material.

A pre-stretch  is a canvass that has been stretched and placed on a frame. It is easier to use since stretching a canvass takes time. Also once you paint on a pre stretch canvass it will be nice and smooth.

The canvass size will depend on how big or how small you want the objects in your painting. For me my favorite size is a 50 cm X 60 cm. But for my bufferfly paintings its usually a 40 cm X 40 cm.

A Primed and pre-stretched canvass can be bought from your local art supply store.

Derailed

On our second painting class, we were ask to draw the fruits in front of us. As usual i was apprehensive again to draw. The fruits were arranged in such a way that i was looking at it from an angle. And i had to finish what i was doing in three hours. So it was draw then color it using pastel color. My! it was not just like coloring fruits in a coloring book but i had to do it taking into account the lighting and all! But wonders of all wonders! I was able to do it! I went home brimming with pride and showing off my work to my kids and my husband. They were all praises. So there i was ready to venture into my new world - oil painting!
But then i was not able to attend the next painting class because i had to go home to Manila for an emergency operation. They had to do a Dilatation and Curetage on me,  the doctors suspected possible bleeding. So i was not able to paint for almost three weeks since i had to rest after the operation.
After my rest, i had to get going again because my spirits were low. So the best therapy was for me to go back to my painting class. Since i was gone for a long time already my classmates were now doing their paintings in oil on canvass. Here i was just starting with my very first oil in canvass painting.
We were all required to do the same painting for our first venture - a still life painting of two wine bottles , a ceramic jar and a wine glass.
So i started, in front of me were two wine bottles, a wine glass and a ceramic jar. I had to draw first using a charcoal pencil. Then my friend suggested that i take a picture of those things so that if ever i am not through by the end of the class i could continue my work at home.
I prayed first before i started. By the end of the class i was able to make the drawings and started to use my brush and oils for the initial colorings. I was also very happy of what i was seeing. Little did i know that what i did that day will change my life forever. I was a budding artist then. Here is my very first Oil in Canvass Painting.