No Place Like Home

Focusing on color mixing and composition, Kayla Martell paints blissful interior scenes

- Kayla Martell

My piece, Bird Bath, is a scene from my own washroom, which I kept passing and thinking "that light is gorgeous!" Once I spot an area that I'm inspired by, my sink in this case, I start to organize a composition around it to suit the painting. As I paint from life, I don't always have the luxury or time to rearrange a setting how I'd like it (my friends would likely not enjoy me redecorating their places). But since this was my house, I took the liberty of adding a few plants and even a tiny bird on my tap, much to the delight of my husband, because this is the only time I clean.

Once I had spruced up the bathroom, I set up my easel in the hallway. I have everything I need attached to my tripod: brushes, solvent cups, etc. And what doesn't fit there I store in my backpack that I can easily carry from room to room or back to the studio. I want to always be able to set up at a moment's notice.

STAGE 1 COMPOSITION

Composition—the big, big secret! If I don’t have a good composition, I won’t have a good painting. This means I need to use my viewfinder to ensure the cropping of the scene will give me a good mix of light and darks, and ensure my focal point is in the right place. I will adjust the size through my view finder while squinting to figure out if I want a portrait or landscape, as well as what canvas size.