"Basil Plant"

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"Basil Plant"

8 x 10 in

Oil on Canvas Panel

My girlfriend has been growing this basil plant for about a month now and it's growing day by day, its fun to see how much they grow in just a matter of days.  The greens and yellows that are hidden within the basil's are a delight to discover and paint, thanks for viewing my art and here's the process of this painting.

I started with the same way I start all my paintings no mediums just a bit of raw umber on the brush and draw straight on the canvas, this one was really challenging because of all the leaves and getting it placed just right on the canvas.  When I got the drawing right I started on one section and took it to a finish if I was to work on the whole plant at the same time then it would take me much longer to finish.  I started with the darkest values by using ivory black, viridian, cobalt blue and cadmium yellow light.

Then I added the middle and lighter values using the same mixture just introducing cerulean blue and titanium white.  I carry the same approach to all the leaves starting from the darker values and move my way up to the lighter values.

When I got to the second pic I started to see thats where the focal point would be because of the high contrast, again starting from the darker values and moving up to the lighter values as I'm painting each section I make sure to take it to a close finish.  I usually like to add the finishing touches when the painting's complete and I can see what needs to be taken further when regarding to highlights.

Then I started to add the darker values in the flower pot, I also added the surround leaves very loosely to get the feel of the values.  I am constantly aware if the edges need to be soft or taken to a crisp, remember edges can make or break you'r painting.

Then I added the lighter values and also proceed to add the background which is hard to see in these photos the finished pic has the true color of the background, I used naples yellow and titanium white.

Then I added the darker and middle values to the outer part of the flower pot using ivory black, cerulean blue, and cobalt blue.  I also added the lighter values using titanium white and cerulean blue after the flower pot was finished I went in to the basil leaves and just added highlights where the needed to be touches and sharpened some edges as well to bring more of a focal point to some areas of the leaves.

I also wanted to mention that I started using Robert Simmons brushes with this painting I used a number 6 filbert and it was awesome, not too difficult to get used too definitely recommend it.  Thanks again for stopping by and viewing hope you enjoyed!