heidi horchler

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Anatomy of a Painting: The Unicorn (Mythjqal Creatjre)

For the inspiration behind this piece, see the previous post.

While I developed my drawings for Daydream Odyssey, I have to admit, a Unicorn wasn’t the first thing to come to mind. And then I was like DUH. I used the above image of Chroicoragh as the main image, and added a damask pattern from my fabric stash. It’s a teal blue that I paired with a coral polka dot to make the cutest Little Sister, Big Sister aprons, waaaay back when I was sewing like a fiend.

So the concept in and of itself is simple: just a horse with a horn, stuck on a two- dimensional pattern with a plain inner border. I had finally turned Chroicoragh into the Unicorn I always knew she was, and I thought it would be fun for people to color.

When I later decided to turn my drawing series into watercolor & acrylic paintings, I wasn’t quite sure what I would do with her, but I immediately pictured the damask pattern as a forest she would fade into, wardrobe-style, into another world. What world? Not Narnia, certainly, but…well that’s another story.

Wander along with us. Below are photos of the process, and a video describing the art processes, tools and decision-making. Click on photos for detailed descriptions and to flip through the gallery. Thank you to Rowan Copeland for editing the video (scroll down for video).

Here’s the video! You can also watch it on YouTube here. Don’t forget to Like & Subscribe!

Thanks as always for your time and support. Feel free to ask questions in the comments below.

xo

Heidi

The painting is for sale.