how to recreate a painting

I am working on finishing up the art for the screened in porch. 

This whole extreme nausea thing really threw me for a loop while finishing up this room. 

(better late than never huh?)

Well here is a step by step of re-creating a painting you love and have NO IDEA where to  get it. 

first. find the painting, probably online. i found this in google images and took me to a spammer source, wasn't on etsy.. nothing but I LOVED it.

step 1. draw your version of the image then paint the solid background

2. go ahead and lay out the paint colors you will be needing while you paint.

have a glass of water laid out, some paper towels, and all your brushes.

For the blobs of green I actually just used my fourth finger to rub in the paint in certain areas. 

** i see  you asking.. why the fourth, your pointer has too much power/pressure, the middle still a little much, but the fourth is soft pressure, you can add water and move the paint around to create the blurred effect.

Instagram shots.

3. start to fill in your main color with a brush.

I used a brown/black mixture to fill in the outer lining of the crab and again blurred with the finger technique.

4. here is where you begin adding the depth to the main image, always go lighter and a little darker than you think, white is a great blender once its applied.

5. next, I used my Prismacolor, black marker to outline the image after the colors dried.

(you can buy this type of premier art marker at hobby lobby or michaels)

6. continue to add depth to the image, it is crucial at this point if you are still working on the painting to walk away at least for a few minutes and come back to the painting with a fresh perspective; also send pics to other artsy friends and ask for their "critique" for what you should add next. (I called my friend Candace)

with Candace's advice I plowed on with more white to the crab.

7.finally I added some highlighting points with my prismacolor marker.

Here is the original:

Here is my final product:

I am linking up over at Beth's for tips and tricks.