I’m still not sure if “behind the scenes” is the right term for this but in today’s blog post and video I am sharing the story behind where the idea of painting these watercolor ultrasounds came from and the process of how I paint them.

So where did this idea come from?

Well - it wasn’t an “idea” that I came up with while brainstorming one day or anything. And to be honest, I love that it didn’t originate that way.

WHERE THE IDEA CAME FROM…

If you know me or have been following along with me on Instagram for a while, you’ll know I don’t post many photos of myself. Like many of you, when I stared posting creative work to Instagram I was very self-conscious. Sometimes I still am! Posting photos of myself is an even larger hurdle to overcome. But something that I think I’m ever-so-slowly getting over.

So when I decided I wanted to share about our pregnancy the thought of posting a photo of myself was already out of the question, but I also didn’t want to post a glossy, wrinkled picture of my ultrasound either. It just made sense to paint my sonogram photo using watercolors because, well, that’s what I do.

I didn’t even think it was going to be good or that I would frame it. It wasn’t even something I thought of as a personal piece of art that I was painting for myself!

In fact, I painted it in the corner of a pad of paper and later when I tried cutting it out to frame there wasn’t even enough breathing room around it to make it a decent size for framing.

I posted this little painting to Instagram and thought nothing of it. But then… among the overwhelming amount of sweet, congratulatory messages I got, I also received many private messages and comments asking if I sold paintings like this.

It was then that I thought about how special it would be to be able to paint ultrasounds for other expecting moms. And after a week or so of planning out all the details of how I could offer this, I was ready to open up a handful of custom commissions.

I’m still in what feels like an exploratory phase for this service. But what I do know is that each one I paint feels really special. And like anything else I take the time to paint, it allows me to slow down and really observe.

When I spend time with each painting, I get to know the baby’s profile and proportions. I wonder what he or she will look like at birth. I wonder whether or not he or she will look more like the mom or dad. And I know now how special this little image can be. Especially after going through it myself.

Painting process

I filmed the process of painting one of these ultrasounds so I could share it with you. But since the whole process takes a while, I sped it up and made it a time-lapse video.

If you’re thinking of painting one of these for yourself and wanted to understand my process and what supplies I use, here’s a breakdown: