Sunday, January 5, 2014

Field Poppies - A Work in Progress

The temperature continues to sit at 22F (-5.5C) and it is snowing again.

To get into a brighter mood I decided to work on one of my favourite flowers the poppy (13 December 2013).

I had started this painting back in November of last year as part of a class demonstration.

In a small plastic container I first mixed a puddle of pure raw sienna and then set it aside. In another container I mixed raw sienna with Antwerp blue for a brighter green colour. In a third container I mixed together French ultramarine blue and raw sienna for a darker more olive coloured green.

Then I wet the paper with water and while the "glow" was coming off the wet paper I mixed some pure burnt sienna in one section of my palette, in another section some pure French ultramarine blue and I made a dark mixture of French ultramarine blue and burnt sienna.

First I poured the raw sienna over the upper part of the paper and toward the right side, being sure to leave some areas of white.

Next using the bright green I poured it into the center of the painting and rolled it around. Then with the paint brush moved some soft lines outward in leave shapes.

Using the final container of dark green I poured it mainly towards the bottom of the painting and rolled some of the paint toward the center of the painting.

Lastly using a brush and each of the colours mixed on my palette I painted in various soft leaf shapes. Once the paper was completely dry I removed the masking fluid.

I will post this painting at a later date once more of the painting has been completed.

Thank you for coming to look at my artwork and I hope you will return often.