Another Winner in our FREE Canvas Drawings at Meets

Here is another Digital Painting that was FREE to the mom who entered one of our new meet drawings.  Sometimes it's hard to find an inspiring image to paint of the younger gymnasts.  That was NOT the case for this gymnast.  Her straddle jump was one of many that caught my eye as I reviewed her images.  Her poses were elegant, and her skills were eye-catching!  I had a hard time deciding whether to paint one of several skills she demonstrated or one of her poses.  They were all such awesome images.  Her coach and teammates in the background watching her gave this image an extra emotional factor.  In the end, I thought she and her family would enjoy this awesome straddle jump from a Level 4 gymnast!   

When I began this painting, I used the "Flow" smoothing technique to create a noise-free background.  I painted the lines to emphasize her vertical torso and the horizontal position of her legs.  I was disappointed, though, that the Flow technique blurred the teammates and coach so much that they simply became part of the smooth lines.  I went back to work, created a layer between the gymnast and the background and added them to the design.  I didn't want them to the the center of attention, so I made sure they were blurred (they and the gymnast know who they are, I'll bet).  Then I made teammate/coach  layers, like the background, semi-transparent to give an ethereal feeling to the overall painting.  

#DigitalPaintingsSPUSA