"Subtle Roses"

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"Subtle Roses"

8 x 10 in

Oil on Canvas Panel

I really liked the roses I painted at the demo, I decided to get another bunch that where similar and painted them again.  This time I felt I had more time and a better set up to paint.  These roses have so much beauty between each pedal, you have to be careful painting pedals they can become generic very quick.  The ferns also played a supporting role to the roses, I decided to keep them soft and not rendered as much as the roses.  This keeps more of the attention to the roses which was more of the direction I was going.  I did this painting in a flemish style, I was able to render the values with a burnt umber  and just concentrate getting all the tones right.  Once the tones are working I add color on top of the values, doing this allows me to have a stronger painting since the drawing and tones are in tact.  I'm a firm believer that you have to know how to draw in order to paint well, essentially painting is drawing just with a brush and some color.

I started the drawing with a bit of details in it, since I'm painting roses the placement of their pedals are important.  Once the drawing is complete I state the background with ultramarine blue, naples yellow, and titanium white.

Then I start on the first rose, as stated before I'm using the flemish technique to render each tone with a bit of raw umber.  I use raw umber because it's the middle overall value that I see in the rose.  I apply a very thin passage of paint at this stage, remember the point of this stage is to get the values working and also work the edges.  I'm thinking of this stage as a drawing,  I want the drawing to come out right before I apply color to it.  Then I apply the lighter values and their specific forms, I also apply color at this stage I do the same in the shadows.  Since the drawing is stated and working well with the values, it's simple to just apply color on top and blend it in with the values.  The colors I used for the first rose where raw umber, titanium white, ultramarine blue, cerulean, naples yellow, and cad. yellow light. 

I repeat the same process with the the second rose, I first render the rose with one color which is raw umber.  The reason I use this color is because I see its the middle overall value to that rose.  I stay in this stage until the drawing is correct and the values are perfect.  Then I apply the colors on top using quinacridone magenta, viridian, ultramarine blue, cad.yellow light, and titanium white.  

I then do the same with the third rose only this time I use a different color for the middle value, I used naphthol red, raw umber and ultramarine blue.  

Once the third rose was completed I moved onto the leaves and ferns.  I wanted to keep the simple and not to rendered, this allows all the attention to stay at the roses.  I didn't use the flemish technique in this stage, instead I just covered it with the middle overall value and worked into the darks and lighter values.  You can say I did the same approach to the red rose.  The colors I used for the leaves were viridian, ultramarine blue, cad.yellow light, and raw umber.  It was fun painting this one in a different manner, although its pretty similar to the way I usually paint I do like the flemish approach.  I plan to play more with this technique in future paintings.  I hope you enjoyed this one as much as I did, thanks for stopping by and viewing!

"Ranunculus 2"

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"Ranunculus 2"

8 x 10 in

Oil on Canvas Panel

I wanted to paint another version of these beautiful flowers, as stated in previous post these guys remind me of peonies thus the reason I like painting them.  I've been so busy lately doing other paintings its always good to come back to these alla prima's and have a fresh eye.  I believe doing alla prima paintings are essential for painters, it keeps you fresh and allows you to experiment with your own technique.  I've been painting flowers for a good while now I have to say its taught me a lot with my own approach to painting.  Flowers have an abstract shape to them to me thats what makes them so beautiful, once you think of them as abstract shapes then it becomes easier to paint.  What I like about these ranunculus it seems as if the lights radiating from the middle of the flower, it's all in the coloring of the flower and how its dispersed through out its body.  It's amazing how mother nature conjured up all these wonderful flowers.

I started with usual dry brush approach using no mediums and a bit of raw umber on the brush, I didn't want to get to detailed since I'll be adding most of the flowers in the later stages.  After the drawing stage is complete I stated the general colors with middle values, I don't want to add highlights or darker values just a a general statement.  The colors I used for this stage is titanium white, quinacridone magenta, naphthol red, viridian, and raw umber.

Then I added the background using yellow ochre, ultramarine blue, and titanium white.  Adding the background at this stage allows me to get a general feel of the colors.  I can now start adding darker values and their specific forms with the first batch of flowers.  The colors I used are ivory black, raw umber, and ultramarine blue.

Then I add lighter values and their specific forms, the colors I used for this stage is titanium white, quinacridone magenta, and naphthol red.  Once thats completed I start on the other section of flowers and repeat the same process.  I also use the same colors as I did before, I start adding middle and darker values and their specific forms.

Then I add lighter values and their specific forms.  I'm constantly going back and forth between values and adjusting them to the right look, this always happens when adding a new value.  Once the flowers are taken to a close finish I start on the stems and vase, I start on the middle to darker values and their specific forms.

Then I add the lighter values and their specific forms and take it to a finish, I then go back to the flowers and tweak some highlights and darker values.  Once I've taken the flowers to a finish I take the painting to a completion.  As stated before in the beginning I truly do love painting flowers they teach me so much about painting and its textures, it's great practice overall and enjoy every second of it.  I hope you enjoyed this one as much as I did.  Thanks for stopping by and viewing!

"Fuchsia Peonies"

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"Fuchsia Peonies"

8 x 10 in

Oil on Canvas Panel

I wanted to mention that today is the one year anniversary of winning the Daily Painters contest, cannot thank all of you enough for making that happen.  It has been such a blessing in winning that competition and just every moment after that, it was one of the toughest times in waiting to see if I would win or not and glad it went the way it did.  Apart from the contest I've painted so much more prior to it, its taught me so much discipline and shown me how much fun one can have painting these little gems every day.  I enjoy the concept of discipling oneself to paint for a certain time of the day everyday (if you can), sounds so simple but yet it can be very complicated depending on one's schedule.  Not only they're fun to paint but they've taught me so much outside of the schooling I've had, to paint in a consistent manner every day you get to learn from your mistakes and try so many different approaches to your technique.  I thoroughly recommend it to anyone wanting to push themselves to that next level.  I think of it as sketching in your sketchbook every day you do it because it warms you up and it gets you better, the more you practice the better you'll get.  These alla prima's have been a blessing to me and truly feel so lucky to be able to get up every morning and paint these jewels.

    These peonies where a lot of fun to paint, I especially like the arrangement in composing them on the canvas.  The color pattern and fall of light on the peonies where just to good not to paint, as stated in the previous post when I painted another batch of peonies they can be very challenging to paint.  Aside from the challenges, it was a lot of fun playing with different textures and impastos.  I also enjoyed playing with the composition and getting the right movement that I can through out the picture.  Painting the bright fuchsia colors was a bit challenging as well, a beautiful color all around though.  Peonies are such beautiful flowers to paint and enjoyed every bit of it, I hope to do more of these in the future.

I started with the usual dry brush approach using no mediums and a bit of raw umber on the brush, I kept the drawing pretty loose since painting flowers you can only go so far with the drawing.  I believe in certain flower paintings you concentrate on the drawing more when you paint it rather in the initial drawing stage.  Then for the next stage I decided to lay in all the general colors at once, from background to peonies and the leaves.  Reason I did that is to get a general feel of the overall color pattern since there is so much going on in the painting, it would be hard to imagine it one stage at a time. I keep the paints rather thin in this stage so I can easily build upon it in thick passages if need be.  

Then I concentrate on the fuchsia peonies first starting with the darker values and stating their specific forms.  Then I add the lighter values and their specific forms, I keep jumping back and forth and adjusting the values to look right for the finish.  The colors I used for the for the fuchsia peonies are quinacridone magenta, titanium white, ultramarine blue, ivory black, and titanium white.

I used the same color palette in the middle peonies, I started again with the middle to darker values and their specific forms.  Then I added the lighter values and their specific forms, I didn't take it to a finish yet I wanted to add the rest of the painting and come back to it.  There's enough paint on there where it won't dry in certain spots it'll stay wet for a while.

Then I stated the white peonies with the middle and darker values, stating their specific forms as well.  Then I added the lighter values and their specific forms, I kept jumping around and adjusting the values to the right look I was going for.  The colors I used where cadmium yellow, titanium white, ultramarine blue, quinacridone magenta and raw umber.

Then I stated the leaves and their whimsical shapes, the colors I used where ultramarine blue, cad.yellow, yellow ochre and ivory black.  After finishing the leaves I was able to go back to the middle fuchsia peonies and soften more of its edges and adjust its values, doing so I was able to take that area to a finish.  I was also able to add thicker impastos in the lighter peonies, those areas where so much fun to paint to let the paint do its job and not really manipulate it was great.  I always enjoy the impasto areas you get to be gestural and really get beautiful textures with the paints.  Overall had a lot of fun with this painting and really happy with the outcome, thanks for stopping by and viewing hope you enjoyed!