| After transferring the drawing I wet the background, branches and leaves (everything except the flower). I held the painting slightly upright and dropped in color and let it run. I used gray green and yellow and then added and splattered some warm red as well as spots of water. Then I laid it flat and added salt (when the paper was still shiny but not puddled). After it was dry I removed the salt and ran water and a soft brush over the edge of the flower to soften the darker color that collected around some of the edges. Later, after that was dry, I glazed the background with rich green gold (Daniel Smith). I glazed it to tone down the texture. I still wanted to see the texture, but needed it to be less busy. Sometimes, for very busy backgrounds, I must gaze more than once. After everything was dry I worked on the leaf next. I did it in 2 sections. For the top part I dampened the leaf (dampening is a little less water which comes with a little more control) and added green (mixed from warm yellow and blue that leans towards green). While still damp I added a little dark in the dark areas, some red in the middle and some yellow near the edge. On the bottom section of the leaf I dampened and added a blue green towards the tip and a regular green near the stem and yellow on the edge. I left a space for the middle vein. After the leaf was dry I lifted some veins with a soft brush, water and a paper towel on the leaf (may do more). On the bottom leaf I added thin shadows under the veins and a thin shadow on the other side of the middle vein as well. I ran yellow down the middle vein and dropped little dots of green and red. For the branch I mixed a brown leaning towards gray. I dampened it and put the paint in on the dark side. Later, after it was dry, I added more shadow and some texture. On the flower I mixed quin. rose with a little ultramarine blue. I dampened the petal I chose to start and added the paint to the dark area letting it or helping it move outward. I moved petal by petal moving around so petals could dry before working next to them (if that makes sense). I then did a second pass on the dark petals in the middle. I used a darker red made by adding a little green to the quin rose and ultramarine mixture. Remember, Normally I would finish all the petals before a second pass and all the leaves, etc. before moving on and finishing them. But for demonstration purposes moving on in a small area is necessary. You can also work in a smaller area for learning purposes as well. |
