A new piece in my Upcycled Vintage Art collection… Ladybug Walk. I found a large vintage print-on-board (in this gorgeous frame) and thought I could do something really fun with it! The print was damaged, scratched and warped. So I touched up the scratches by matching the paint and blending it in. It took a while to decide what should be added to complement the old woman walking through the woods… I settled on a herd of ladybirds 🐞🐞🐞🐞🐞!
The first step was doing a rough drawing on tracing paper, to play around with placement and where I wanted the ladybugs to go. Then I drew on the ladybugs with white paint. I use white as it is more luminous to paint on top of when using bright colours, especially orange and yellow.
Then I gradually build it up layer on layer, adding in shadows and brightening highlights in the rest of the painting so the new and old blend together.
I like how the finished paint is a different sheen to the vintage print underneath, so from front on it looks all a part of each other, but from the side you can see the brush strokes & thicker paint resting on top.
You can watch a short reel below of the work in progress… be sure to follow me on Instagram @heather_castles_illustration to catch these reels as they are released!
Have a vintage print or painting that needs a rescue?
contact me and we can chat to see if it is a suitable piece for refreshing
Heather Castles Illustration 