Role Model

Today I'm featuring a painting that I highlighted in my newsletter last year.  I got so many positive responses on how fun it was to see my "step by step process" that I decided to feature it in my blog too.  Enjoy!

 A couple of years ago I came across this scene at a garden center that cried out, "Paint me!"  It had all of my favorite components:  strong light and show contrasts, stonework, flowers, and great reflected light.  Here's the photo I took:

I chose a square canvas and cropped the scene to emphasize the story I wanted to tell -- the little pot standing in the proverbial shadow of the big one, his "role model".

My Studio Set up
Here's what my studio set up looked like.  I put my ipad (a great tool!) on the right to view the photo and prepared my palette with opaque and transparent primary colors.

Step 1  I toned my Ampersand panel with Transparent Oxide Orange and then sketched basic outlines with that color mixed with a little Cadmium Red Light. Then I wiped out the light areas with a paper towel and a paint brush.  This is the most important step because it tells me if my composition is going to work!

Step 2  I laid in some background greens with transparent pigment.  I've found that transparent paints are great for giving a sense of depth.

Step 3  Then I painted the reflected sky color that I saw, knowing that I would tone this down later on.

Step 4  Worked a little on the mid-ground greenery, keeping it soft so that it didn't draw attention away from my center of interest.

Step 5  Finished covering the background and began with the warmer colors of the stonework...

Step 6  Finally got to paint the flowers!  I wasn't happy with the greenery in the small planter though.

Step 7  In this step I decided to replace the big leaf that was in the smaller planter with a more colorful spray of flowers. I also decided to soften the background so that it would look more distant. 

Here's my completed painting, before framing...

and after framing...

Role Model, Available

6x6 oil

Ready for a good home!  Click here to learn more.