The Painting That Took Me Over 500 hours - Part 2, The Special Secret is Revealed! 🎨

Just to recap, at the stroke of Midnight on Jan 1, 2016, I started what would be my biggest and most detailed painting so far. I painted it to celebrate reaching 5000 hours spent painting Mandalas. I keep track of how long each painting takes me. Partly to price them fairly, but also because I'm working towards the idea that it takes 10 000 hours to master something. I want to become a "Master Mandala Painter". When I knew I was getting close to 5000 hours, I decided it was time to paint a "Half Masterpiece"- something using all my passion, dedication and skills I'd developed so far to create.

Read about the first parts of the process - creating the outline, coloring it in, and then going over the outline again here - https://steemit.com/artzone/@adammillwardart/the-painting-that-took-me-over-500-hours-part-1

The next part was to add all kinds of details! I spent almost 100 hours on them. The dots & details add another layer of contrast, and make your eyes want to search the whole piece to slowly take it all in. Sometimes deciding what details to add can take a while. I stare at it, and wonder if I should do dots, or shapes inside shapes, or lines. In the end I go with whatever ends up exciting me the most, and slowly and steadily the details give the piece a lot more energy and motion.

The dots and details invite you to get closer. As you get closer you notice even more details your eyes couldn't focus on from farther away. Smaller dots where you only saw solid color. Color gradients in some of the detail dots. After I finished the details, I varnished it with a clear varnish. My hope is it awakens something inside you and gives you a nudge towards spending more time on your own passions - life is short!

It still amazes me that somehow from doodles on post-it notes that I did during many years spent working in call centers, I've been able to create a career as an artist, and inspire people all over the world. It makes me feel so awesome to look at my Half-Masterpiece and get lost. I get a deep sense of joy and accomplishment that I never really felt in my call center career. I decided to name it "Passion & Faith" to represent the passion I have for creating these paintings, and the faith I had to have to quit my call center career to do art full time.

But - I wasn't done yet. There was one more special thing I wanted to do to take it to the next level.

Working in the dark with only a black light on, I created a second "secret" Mandala using a special UV reactive invisible ink

This was the most intense part! One mistake, and I would ruin the piece. I couldn't "erase" the invisible ink if I made a mistake or there were any drips, the ink would just smear. I couldn't really paint over it either. There was already a layer of varnish on the painting because I didn't want to use the ink directly on the paint, in case there was any type of chemical reaction. So if I did paint over any mistake, that type of "correction" would stand out from close up, and be an obvious fix.

Slowly and steadily, with careful patience and dedication, it came together. It took me about 45 hours to do the "secret" Mandala. Then I added another layer of varnish to seal in the UV reactive ink, I painted the sides to finish the canvas, and signed it on the back. All together the piece took me right around 520 hours.

Now it's the main attraction in my showroom, and almost everyone who sees it in person is blown away by it. I feel inspired by it every day, it reminds me what I can do when I'm patient and persistent.

What is your passion? What would you do if you knew in the long run, you couldn't fail? Let me know in the comments - and then go do something about it~!

After I finished it, I had the design made into table cloths, in 2 sizes. You can also use them as wall hangings, decorative throws, to sit on for meditation, or even at the beach or a picnic etc....

36 x 36 inches, available @ https://www.nexusvisions.com/product-page/passion-faith-36-x-36-inch-table-cloth

54 x 54 inches, available @ https://www.nexusvisions.com/product-page/passion-faith-54-x-54-inch

When you buy my art, and products featuring my designs, you help me keep creating. Upvotes, comments and resteems are always super motivating too! Thanks to everyone who's supported me along my journey so far! -Adam

Visit https://www.NexusVisions.com/art for all my art and merchandise that's currently available