Flexibility while painting …Adding the tenth butterfly

There are ten butterflies in my oil painting entitled “Mutual Admiration”. However, the initial planning was something else. Flexibility while painting is an important aspect of painting. It opens doors to a better and improved version of your original plan. Read on to know the story of adding the tenth butterfly.

The doors were open to flexibility while painting even with a different plan originally:

While making the initial layout of the painting, “Mutual Admiration”, I was sure that I wanted lots of butterflies in the painting. However, I was kind of moving forward and backward between having nine or ten butterflies.

Sometimes I wanted ten butterflies while sometimes nine butterflies seemed to be the correct number. Finally, the decision was made to include nine butterflies and the initial rough layout in oil pastels looked like this:

Flexibility while painting to add the tenth butterfly:

When I started sketching and painting the initial layout on actual canvas, I had a thought. This thought was that while all the butterflies and the lady have mutual admiration for each other, something was missing. I felt that there has to be at least one butterfly who is daring enough to not just admire a human from distance but actually touch it.

This consideration led to the addition of the tenth butterfly that dares to sit on the shoulder of the lady. Flexibility while painting to add the tenth butterfly was the much needed step. This tenth butterfly helps in telling the whole story of “Mutual admiration”.

All butterflies are unique in patterns, colours, the way they are flying towards the female. However, the tenth butterfly is even more unique as it just doesn’t fly towards the human but actually touches and sits on her shoulders.

Make some room for flexibility while painting:

You might or might not change your initial plan while making a painting. However, what’s important is to always have some room for flexibility while painting. I personally feel the addition of tenth butterfly made “Mutual Admiration” much more interesting and welcoming. What are your thoughts on it? Please reply in the comments section.

P.S. Make all ten butterflies permanent member of your place by buying this painting from gallery.