Discount Store Paintings Redone

My new neighbor bought identical paintings for around $15 each, a little under 3’ square, but was unhappy with how bland and identical the paintings looked in her taupe room with a deep navy wall and navy and turquoise rug. Seeing my art work, she wondered if I could add the colors (turquoise, navy and light gold) needed to the paintings to make them “pop”. I loved the original artwork but totally agreed with her assessment. Took me awhile to agree to do it, having never done this before. I finally decided to try my luck. Here’s the original:

So, having given me one of the paintings, a pillow and another piece of art work to go off of, I started pulling together a bunch of acrylic paints and some large paint brushes. I laid the piece down on my kitchen counter top and began tentatively adding color to the shadows. I took my time, adding a little paint, leaving it a day and comparing it to both the original (via a photo) and the supplemental pieces she gave me. Finally, I took the first one over to her house looked at it carefully, decided I needed to make some changes and add color to the background. We decided to change up the paintings by: 1) turning one on its side and changing the shadows corresponding to the new direction (both paintings would have light coming from right side) and 2) I would add color to the background starting darkest at the bottom to lighter at the top.

Both pieces shown with pillow and other art piece used for colors:

Left flower will be rewired in back to be on its’ side:

Right flower:

Background shading dark to light from bottom to top:

I finally pulled the purple tape off the frames and delivered them today. Pretty pleased with how they turned out. The only remaining question I have is should I spray a fixative on them for preservation. Anyways, hope you enjoyed this different blog post as inspiration for your own DIY efforts. I will only be posting this on Instagram. Comment with questions or advice! Till next time, happy crafting!