Here I've painted the star yellow and white but as I apply my paint I let thick portions stay (without smoothing them out) to add even more texture and I let the purple underpainting show through on parts. Notice how I've also thrown caution to the wind when it comes to creating straight lines to the star. It's the excitement I'm trying to capture, not the exact realism of a perfectly straight symmetrical star. 
Now I begin to paint the background and you can see that the background (particularly around the face) is my backup to correcting shapes and errors that I want to refine. I can paint closer in on the forehead and cheek or leave some of the underpainting show to round out part of the chin. Don't just blindly paint the background in, use it to refine your painting.
As you paint the background you are not painting an object but you are painting the negative space or the space around the object.
Now I begin to paint the background and you can see that the background (particularly around the face) is my backup to correcting shapes and errors that I want to refine. I can paint closer in on the forehead and cheek or leave some of the underpainting show to round out part of the chin. Don't just blindly paint the background in, use it to refine your painting.
As you paint the background you are not painting an object but you are painting the negative space or the space around the object. Notice the drum set portion in this picture painted in it's realistic colors. The stands are painted but they are not very refined. Just a kind of sloppy line at this point.
As I paint the negative space (the space around the drum stands) or the background I begin to create the shape of the drum stands by NOT painting the drumstands.
Here's a wider view so you can focus on the objects I am creating by painting the negative space which in this case is also the floor of the stage.
Closer up on the right under the bass you can see the negative space painting creates the bass stand.
So now Elvis is coming to life. I add more details and then restrain myself in these impressionistic works from going "too far". With a painting like this you step back a lot to see what the piece looks like from a distance. When you get just to the point of recognition in the face or the objects you STOP.
As a result you don't have just a pretty painting of an image but you creat in your painting an excitement and emotion of the image. You have captured the spot light of the stage, the excitement of the performance and the performer - all in the unexpected colors of the painting. You can almost hear the music in the vibrations of the colors and the brushstrokes. I love to paint this way. I hope you enjoyed taking the step by step journey with me.
As I paint the negative space (the space around the drum stands) or the background I begin to create the shape of the drum stands by NOT painting the drumstands.
Here's a wider view so you can focus on the objects I am creating by painting the negative space which in this case is also the floor of the stage.
Closer up on the right under the bass you can see the negative space painting creates the bass stand.
So now Elvis is coming to life. I add more details and then restrain myself in these impressionistic works from going "too far". With a painting like this you step back a lot to see what the piece looks like from a distance. When you get just to the point of recognition in the face or the objects you STOP.
As a result you don't have just a pretty painting of an image but you creat in your painting an excitement and emotion of the image. You have captured the spot light of the stage, the excitement of the performance and the performer - all in the unexpected colors of the painting. You can almost hear the music in the vibrations of the colors and the brushstrokes. I love to paint this way. I hope you enjoyed taking the step by step journey with me.
