Painting Demonstration: Step Three

My aim is to escape from the medium with which I work; to leave no residue of technical mannerisms to stand between my expression and the observer. ~ Andrew Wyeth

Now to the fun part, the main character, a very handsome red rose.

I start with the stem as it is the base and the rose needs a strong foundation. I work my way from the bottom upwards focusing all my attention lastly upon the most important character of this drama, the red rose.

Don’t forget to put down a small amount of amber before starting to work on the stem and petals. If you use medium on one part of a painting you had better use it throughout if you want to escape the crack police!

Warning: If you choose to work on a canvas, do not use amber as it will crack over the years when the material expands and contracts.

I mix a base green with:

· A touch of Blockx Burnt Sienna Deep (my theme color)

· Blockx Blue (careful, it is a very strong transparent staining color)

· Blockx Cadmium Yellow

· Blockx Yellow Ochre (this color goes a long way as well)

Wow! What a beautiful green. I love color.

I put down the base green color of the stem and petals.

Did I mention that I’m listening to Renee Olstead’s new CD “Skylark” while painting? It is a must have!

Next, I go back and put in the accents, the details and the highlights of the green petals and stem. It is my depiction of the flower’s lovely character or personality. I hope I do him justice. I mostly use Cadmium Yellow and a small amount of Titanium White.

TIP: Clean that brush often when putting in details!

I paint the details into the petals with a stippling action pushing wet paint into wet paint. Just don’t mix too much or you’ll work yourself to death and lose the freshness you are shooting for.

I pull some of the background color over the stem and petals to simulate the light that wraps around edges in nature (reflective light).

Thank you everyone for stopping by Boyd Greene Fine Art for a browse. I hope you enjoy this rose demonstration that I’m working on this weekend posting updates from the beginning to the end. This is the third step.

Have a great weekend full of natural wonder while exploring your nearest natural habitat.

Comments

[Sarah]

Hi Boyd,

I know tha this isn't exactly a comment, but I couldn't find your e-mail address, and I wanted to write and tell you about a new website for artists, musicians, fashion designers, and filmmakers: www.PutItOn.com. I've been using the site as an artist and have my work there, and am trying to support it because I believe in it. Basically, the site allows artists from all over the world to connect, display their portfolios, and sell their work (with NO commission taken!). The site gives artists a FREE gigabyte of space to showcase their portfolios, allows you to stream audio and video works, lets you create live personal broadcasts, and translates any writing into ten different languages. If you could take the time to visit the site, and if you like it too, let your readers know about it, and even sign up yourself or link to it on your site it would be greatly appreciated! We are trying to make a go of helping out artists everywhere and are trying to get the word out, so please help us out if you like the site after checking it out! Thank you!

All the best,Sarah at PutItOn.com

[Artist Boyd Greene]

No problem Sarah, thank you for the information and I hope it will be a help to some of my readers.