I painted this artwork as a gift for a nephew and niece-in-law for their wedding present. It was a fun one to work on. It is 101cm x 76cm.

I started by spreading a thin layer of moulding paste onto the canvas and then used the end of a paintbrush to mark the design to create texture and interest before the moulding paste dried. You can do this in sections so the paste stays moist. You can also use stamps and linocuts to create texture in this fashion.

Then using professional acrylic paints I painted the background colours, using the darker tones to start with and I mixed some colours with clear medium to make the paint more translucent where needed.

After that, I brought in the lighter colours, then highlights. It's important to check the tonal values (darks and lights) and I do this by taking a photo and converting it to black and white on the photos app. You need good contrast of tone and also colours for a painting to work well.

I used the @smartist app to pop the painting into different settings to see how it might look. This is always loads of fun.

My nephew and niece-in-law love it and I'm so glad Uplifted is in its new home.