Saturday, December 6, 2008

Painting a Red Geranium - No. Five

At this stage of the painting I have continued to add Burnt Sienna to areas of shadow in the stems, leaves and shadow areas. I have also used Hooker's Green to develop some of the shading in the lower leaves. Notice that I have used both hard and soft edges. To soften an edge I apply the green, then use plain water with a damp brush to touch the edge of the still wet paint. The pigment flows into the wet area and the edge softens. It's important to pull the water from the dry area into the wet pigment. If I pulled the water from the pigment out, I may cause a bloom, or I would just continue to pull the pigment out and still have a funny edge where the pigment dried.
I used Perelyne Maroon and Rose Dore to glaze the flower in subtle wet washes. I use different colors to glaze the petals that are facing different directions to give the illusion of light reflecting in different directions.
More to come soon!

No comments: