Making LÖVE

LÖVE

Just got back from visiting friends and celebrating the wedding of one of my oldest friends. Which means that I finally I get to post the wedding gift painting. I worked on this digital painting over the winter and named it LÖVE, for reasons that will soon be obvious. It took roughly 40 hours, a lot more than usual, largely because of the planning and the printing preparation.

I'd meant to do a traditional, on-canvas painting. I even drew the final design on a canvas. Somehow I just kind of kept never getting around to painting it, was always tinkering on the Adobe Photoshop planning drawings. Eventually I listened to my instincts. GPC Labworks printed it on canvas for me.

Why Ikea? My friend's now-husband proposed there, given it was the site of so many dates. I figured I'd pay homage. In fact, I learned yesterday that they're doing a wedding photo shoot there.

The groom put together a making-of video using my early sketches and earlier versions. It's really fun -- great music, and lots of humour.

They showed it at what they called their Concert Ceremony, where friends played music or performed readings for the couple. Even the bride and groom performed ensemble pieces. I doodled a bit in my hotel room the next evening.