PANDA PAINTING
Reflection
Created in 2024, Reflection was an important painting in the development of my animal portrait style. The panda is shown sitting beside a river, surrounded by a colourful and expressive background that was built up one brush stroke at a time. As I worked, I deliberately returned to my palette after almost every few strokes, mixing in a new colour each time. This created a rich blend of colours and movement throughout the painting, giving the background a lively and energetic feel.
This piece was also an experiment in composition. At the time, I was exploring how much of the animal should be included within the artwork and whether a full-body portrait or a closer crop created a stronger connection with the viewer. While I was pleased with how the panda turned out, the process helped me realise that I am at my strongest when focusing on faces and expressions. From this point onwards, most of my animal paintings concentrated on head-and-shoulder portraits, allowing me to capture more character and detail, with birds remaining one of the few exceptions.
PET PORTRAIT COMMISSION
About the Artist
My creative journey began with Art and Graphic Design at high school, followed by Art, Graphic Design and Filmmaking at college. I later earned a BA (Hons) in Fine Art with Media, exploring everything from painting and printmaking to photography, graphic design and digital media. Working across so many different disciplines helped shape my approach to art and continues to influence the way I experiment with texture, composition and layered techniques.
VIDEOS OF MY PAINTINGS
Follow me on Facebook
Want to see how my paintings are made? I make videos of me creating my paintings, from the pouring paint backgrounds to the tiny details in the facial features of the animals i paint. Scroll through my recent posts on Facebook here and see how my artwork is made.
To enquire about exhibitions, commissions and more, send an email to: emmareayartist@gmail.com