Looking Up (at night) . 36x24 . 2006





1. natural/artificial lighting
2. artificial and uv lighting combined
3. uv lighting only
4. no light (glow in the dark!)


Whereas my last painting focused on sun and moon imagery, this one is based on planets. Specifically, what you would "see" if you looked up at the night sky. After I began this one, we watched a show that debated how many planets were really in our solar system, and whether or not Pluto can actually be considered a planet.

Ah well.

I used a lot of texture again, I think because I couldn't imagine "space" being flat. I used a few new techniques for creating darkness, which I think works better than what I was doing before.

In the daytime, near a window, the painting is actually very bright and colorful, but at night under artificial light, it looks much darker. I love how it changes in different lighting. It actually changes with the time of day, which is awesome since I created it to be a "nighttime" painting.

(UPDATE 11/07: I've added my super high quality glow paints to this piece. The stars will glow for HOURS now! Hooray!)

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

i told you i would take a look at your blog site, and im glad that i did. so throughly impressed with your work that i cant even find the words to express how awe-inspired i am. i was completely unaware that you had such a natural vocation. this comment is not for this painting alone but for all that are present on this page. i would be delighted to have one of your pieces on my wall someday. this gift of yours is not one that should be squandered. cause shayla, you got talent.

love always
Ben

Anonymous said...

I like this one the best. It's the most romantic, really does make me think of all the time I've spent looking up at night seeing all the colors that you don't notice until you've been looking for a long time. Like the time the monk at the monestary showed me the star Sirius that flashes red, white and blue, Just reminds me it's not all Black & White, the colors are endless. Thats what I get out of your paintings, the layers of color are endless like they are in the world. It's an inspiring reminder...thank you