Oil Painting Lesson for Peonies and Asian Vase

Here’s a close up of the leaves and table flowers. It’s not that noticeable in the photo but I’ve been enhancing some of the blooms by deepening color and scumbling lites in a a few places. Tips of the petals have more color in them and I’ve added this in a few places. Often things that are not at first noticeable to you, become more so as time goes by. These less obvious statements can be brought out in later passes.

There’s a bit of reflected pink on the side of the vase where the flowers rest against it. I’ve added that as well. Notice there are no shadows yet on the table top. Generally these are added even before I start a painting, but I opted to use a glazing method to put them in afterwards. I wanted to develop the leaves a bit more before I do that.

So here I’ve started to add some of the stems and more leaves. In order to differentiate the ones in front from the leaves in back, I’ve lighted some of the edges on the leaves. I’ll refine these even further in the last session.

Notice the cast shadows from the leaves on the table cloth.

I felt that the peony on the left side was a bit too lit up and it was stealing the show from the larger one which is the main focal point of the painting. Even though I loved the way that other peony looked, it’s never a good idea to sacrifice an entire painting for the purpose of preserving a single passage. So I mixed a glaze of the Quinacridone Pink with some green and started to knock it down a bit.
Now that the pant is dry on the other flowers, I’m free to add some modeling to some of the petals by adding more lights and darks. The lights are added with mixtures of titanium white which has high tinting strength and small amounts of Naples Yellow or the Quinacridone Pink – depending on what I’m after. If I add a white/yellow mixture, the petal will round outward. If I add a the pink, it will tend to retreat a bit. Not as much as if I cooled the mixture with green, but just enough to turn the petal away from me.

I’ve also done some more darkening on the apple on the left. The stems and leaves are easier to view here.

Oops. Camera is a bit tilted here. But I think you can get an idea. I’ve mixed some Ultramarine Blue with some umber to tone it down. A glaze mixture with the use of Maroger Medium was combined and then using a soft sable, I started to lay in the lines for the blue design on the vase. I’m careful here to maintain the structure of the vase which is not quite round, but slightly squared off. The design helps to describe the form.

The paint under the glaze is completely dry so that it’s safe to put the glaze on, and if I make a mistake, wipe it out with a brush that has been wet with thinner.
I took the time here to work some more on the petals of the flower resting on the table. I’ve darkened some of the leaves and created stronger cast shadows from them on the table cloth.

Here I’ve added more details. The design the top of the vase is done by making a mixture of shadow white with a touch of ultramarine blue. Remember this part of the design is in the shadow.

I’ve also refined the shape and thickness of the blue lines and darkened the shadow under the vase and some of the other objects on the table.

Viola! Finito la comedia. Or, in other words, done! Much nicer when you get to view the whole piece in one shot.

The final design is in. I’ve heightened the lights on the vase in a couple of places by scumbling in some lighter mixture here and there. The table top is a bit more lit up where the apples are. I’m also finally happy with the peony that is drooping off to the left. It no longer steals the show and tucks back nicely with some atmosphere around it. I’ve darkened the table cloth toward the bottom of the picture as well.

Well, the painting is done, signed and for the most part, both the client and myself are happy with it. Hope you like it too. Thanks for stopping by. Remember, in order to see the whole lesson in one easy read, check out the lesson on my website by clicking here.

“Full Bloom”
18″ x 24″, Oil on Canvas

How to Paint Peonies, Day Two

Well thanks for checking back in today. I actually painted this lesson over two days starting with the background yesterday and continuing with the flowers today. Here we go. If you’d like to read this lesson in a more consistent manner that flows from top to bottom without having to skip around blog style, click here.

The background was the first thing I started on with color. I generally choose an umber background for pink because the slight green tint sets off the pinks in the blossoms nicely. This mix was done with a combination of Burnt Umber and Raw Umber plus a bit of Cad Yellow Light and Naples Yellow. The lighter tones were done with a bit more Naples yellow. I was looking for a light feeling of tapestry here. As the painting develops I continue to work the background. I like to have it slightly wet as I work because that allows me to fade flowers into the background. Again – I apologize for the glare. Not much I can do about it under the circumstances. Each time I pause to take a picture, I have to turn lights on and turn others off. It’s a bit tricky and breaks my concentration so I try not to have to do too much in that arena. Also, what looks fine in the camera, often looks quite different once I download the picture.

I worked some darker umber and Ultramarine Blue into the background on the lower left hand side and into the shadows on the tapestry.

For the vase, I used my usual mix of black, Cadmium Yellow Light and white along with a touch of the background color. For the light struck area, I used Cremintz White with a touch of Ultramarine Blue. Some of the shadow color was added as well. This is only a preliminary under painting for the vase.

I vowed this time around that I would try to give more step-by-step on the flowers – so here goes. I used a shadow color which was mixed by combining Quinacridone Red and Cadmium Red Light plus a bit of Cremintz White. The Cremintz White is a very thick impasto white with low tinting strength. Good for low tints and where you don’t want to wash out the color. It’s also lovely for building impastos.
I brushed this color combo into the areas where the darker richer interiors of the Peony face away from the light. I used a bit of Cadmium Orange to place warmth into those shadows.

When I mix these colors, I try not to over mix them with a palette knife, but instead use my brush and whip them up a bit to where they are delicately blended – like making muffin batter. Too much mixing and the muffins go flat.

For the reflected lights – always a tough call – I used a bit of Quinacridone Pink which has more blue in it. This was mixed with a bit of background color that had been lightened with touches of white to gray it a bit. Shadows are always deeper near to the object which casts them. So I brushed a bit of Raw Umber mixed with Ultramarine Blue into the shadows closest to the Peonies. The vase is still very simple at this point. I’m only suggesting the shape at the bottom where the shadow curves a bit. Later, I’ll place some background color to deepen shadows and bring atmosphere forward into the painting. I’ve also deepened the shadows on the tapestry in the background.

Here’s the close up. You can see the brush work is kept light. When painting the inside of a flower, you have to figure that that part of the bloom is receding from you and paint it thinly – just as you would shadows.

Here I’ve started to put in the highlights on the lit side of the flower. The paint is quite thick. I’m using the same color that I used in the interior passages but lightened with Cremintz White. I’m using a 1/2″ DaVinci Filbert Bristle brush. Bristles are best for impasto work because they are just stiff enough to hold the paint.

For the initial strokes I used a 1/4 inch brush but decided that it looked too picky so I changed to a larger one and went to a technique that I’m comfortable with.

I didn’t have anyone to take a picture of me laying in the petals so I’ll have to describe the technique. After I’ve loaded the brush, I lay the bristle’s at a 30 degree angle to the canvas and starting at the center of the bloom I make the petal using one stroke by pulling the brush outward to circumference of the flower. I apply more pressure at the start of the stroke and lift off the brush at the back end of the stroke. This is a little tricky and takes some practice.
This stroke is more evident in the last two pictures.

Notice that the lights are bright, but there’s not enough punch or contrast between them and the shadows. This is because Cremintz is a low tint white. I’ll fix that in the end by using a bit of the same color mix but with Titanium White and some Maroger Medium.

I next moved on to the back ground flowers. These were mixed with a bit of Quinacridone Rose which has a bit of blue in it. You can see that color in the flowers facing away from you. Because they are in the background and less distinct, I softened the edges by brushing some of the background into them.

Notice the large bloom in the front and the smaller bloom just behind it. There’s not a huge difference in value here so I used a bit of edge control to push the one on the right back by making the edge of the flower in front a bit crisper. I also used little or no detail in the inside of the flower on the right. Less detail, less reason to spend time looking at it. Control your viewer’s eyes by the use of edges as well as values.

Notice that I’ve painted out the leaves. I decided I would rather design them as I go in the last sitting. Those are details that will be a bit demanding and may take more than one sitting to get right so I’d rather not have to paint background around them when I’m done. Instead I’ll use some Maroger to oil out the canvas and paint into it with the leaf colors when I’m ready. The background is an easy mix and can also be added if needed at a later point without having matching problems.

OK. I took another shot here to better evaluate the light. For this stage of the painting, I’m satisfied. I can see where I will want to darken some of the flowers on the left. This, however, is best left until they are dry and then I can just glaze into them. I rearranged the shapes of the larger flower and used the larger brush to do the petals. I have two more flowers to paint in the next session and then I want to re-evaluate the background and the overall shape of some of the blooms. Once I’ve tweaked those, I’ll start into the objects on the table.

For the background, I’m considering a glaze with a very thin coat of blue to cool it a bit. I can better evaluate it in the light of day however, and I’ll rethink it all in the morning. Good night and I’ll continue with you tomorrow. Thanks for stopping by.

How to Paint Peonies

“The Peony Commission”
Working Title

Peonies are such beautiful, lush flowers that it’s no mystery that they are loved by nearly all flower aficionados. I received this commission a couple of days ago and thought it might be fun to share the painting process with you.

The size of the painting is 18″ x 24″ at the request of the client. I sent her three compositional images and she decided on this vertical format. I’m glad because I’m a bit partial to this composition. Mainly this is because I love drama. Even in something as quiet as a still life, there can be great drama.

Notice how the composition is at eye level. You can basically divide the canvas into three areas. Below the table, the top of the table to the Golden Mein (about one third of the way down from the top, and the top one third where most of the flowers reside.
I chose an “S” composition for this floral as I often do in vertical compositions. Notice how the flowers form a backwards question mark or take an actual “S” direction. I chose green apples to offset the prinks in the flowers. I actually added some cut apples to the right after this picture was taken. They become apparent in the painting.

I first prepared the canvas a couple of days in advance by coating it with a thin layer of under painting white mixed with Liquin to help it’s drying time. I did this for two reasons: first, I prefer a smooth surface to one with texture and I like the way paint moves on a surface that has been primed with paint. The white under painting will cause the flowers to glow with an appearance of light emanating from within as the painting ages.

When the canvas was dry, I drew with charcoal the actual placement of the major elements and then sprayed the whole thing with a touch of hairspray. Nice to know that stuff is still useful for something.
Next I wiped on a thin layer of Burnt Umber mixed with Quinacridone Orange and then started to lift out the lights. I like this process of under painting because it allows me to make decisions as I go. If something doesn’t look right where I’ve placed it, I can easily move it by painting back into the toned canvas and wiping out the lights elsewhere. But my drawing was good here and I was pretty happy with the way the flowers were placed. I had made some changes to the flowers you see in the photograph until I was happy. Often, I won’t see things that need fixing until I start to get things on canvas. That’s why I can’t work from photos. Things looked flat in the photo I sent to the client but really started to fill out nicely when I started actually lifting out the lights on the canvas.

Here you can see the under painting developed further. I added a bloom or two to the left and filled out some other areas. I moved the flower on the table further to the right and the small one further to the left to bring out more of the “S” shape I was referring to. The large Peony in the top left of center is right about on the intersection of the Golden Mein, the sweet spot of the painting and where I want the viewer’s eyes to go. While it takes precedence now, it will be a challenge to keep it’s importance once color is added.

I pulled out lights where the light spills from the left across the vase. You might notice now that there is no design on the vase. That’s the last thing that gets added to the painting.
I’ve filled in some leaves and you can see now also where the apples and cut apples fall. I’ve brushed in some shadows as well to unify the piece.

OK. I’m about done here. The cloth is not quite finished and I’m thinking I’ll change quite a bit on there as the painting proceeds. I often move the light source to provide a few shadows and lit parts on the cloth in the front. I don’t want to do that until the majority of the painting is done as once the light moves, it’s difficult to get things back where they were. While a purist might say that the shadows will not be true to life, an “artist” knows that what works in a painting is not generally true to life in all cases.

I’ve lightened the background on the right. This will add more depth to the painting later. It won’t be bright, per se, but will be a softly shadowed mid tone to allow the flowers to fade into it. The left side will be darker.

All this, mind you, is subject to change. But for the most part, I’m happy with this first stage. Check back tomorrow or the next day to see the next step. Thanks for tuning in.

If the lesson is difficult to follow on the blog, I suggest you click here to follow it on my website where the type flows smoother. Just click on “Peony Commission” when you get there.

How to Paint Orchids

“Arc of Orchids”
8″ x 10″ Oil on Panel

I’ve been wanting to do Orchids for some time and so I got busy early today and set these up in my shadow box. So here’s the set-up.
I used to paint very hard edged reflections when I first started painting still life and have since gone to a softer more romantic look. We’ll talk more about that as the lesson progresses.

I’m currently unable to paint by natural light due to the fact that my windows are no longer looking out on the world but on the inside of my new, presently unfinished studio. While there’s a beautiful seven foot arched window that faces north in there, none of the light reaches my old studio. When they punch through to the old studio, that room will become my new office and I can set up my still life’s under the beautiful soft north light that comes in from the arched window. In the meantime, I’m using a plant light that sort of replicates natural light, but still tends to the warm side. Hence, the rather gold looking tones in the silver bowl.

I started by laying in a basic sketch of the still life with some raw umber and mineral spirits. The yellow ochre background you see is the color of the gesso I used to tone the board. Daniel Smith makes it and I like it because it saves me the trouble of toning a board a few days before I start to work. I don’t always know in advance what I’m going to want and also don’t have enough spare boards on hand a lot of the time to create diversity.
Working on a toned surface is important because it allows you to better judge values (lights and darks). There I go again talking about values. But they’re soooo important.

I did the background first and reserved the shapes of the flowers. Note that in ala prima painting, you try as much as possible to reserve the areas where you are going to place flowers because it’s too easy to muddy the colors otherwise.

I used Viridian Green, Raw Umber, and touches of Ultramarine Blue in making the background. I chose the Viridian because it’s bluish tint would set off the reds in the flowers without making them too vibrant. The lighter areas were lightened with a touch of Naples Yellow because it’s less cool than white. I wanted it a bit lighter where the second bunch of blooms fall because that’s where the lightest petals will be and I wanted to lighten the “air” around the flower.

The color of the flowers is mixed with Daniel Smith’s Quinacridone Pink. His Quinacridone colors are very intense and don’t lose their intensity when you mix them with white. I used a bit of Alazarin Crimson and Ultramarine Blue for the shadow parts and Cadmium Red Light for the center petals.

Note that I use the largest brush that can get the job done. I start with a single stroke – beginning and ending the stroke. I don’t go back in and belabor it. That’s not to say that I don’t use smaller brushes for the detail and places where the petals have highlights on them, but I try to use a loaded brush and get the stroke right on the first try. I’m not always successful. But I’d rather wipe it off and try again, than have an overworked flower.

The pot here is started with Burnt Umber and also some of the background color mixed in. This is important to do in order to give the pot the appearance of being part of its environment. Air, so to speak.

Here I’ve started to put in some of the background flowers. I’m not working too hard to bring detail into these. You can’t see detail from the distance I’m sitting at so why should the viewer have to see it. It’s important to keep that in mind. I hear from my students a lot that they “can’t see” well enough to get these vague areas. Precisely. That is the point. They are vague.

I’m using Naples Yellow on the pot to bring out the patina. I don’t want a hard highlight even though that’s what appears before me because of the artificial light. So I lay in the paint and then soften the edges moving out from the center with my brush. You can see a bit of Burnt Umber on the pot here where I’ve warmed it up to bring it forward in the bulge. I’ve started the reflection of the cloth, making sure to keep my edges very soft. Inside the pot there’s some lovely reflections of the petals but they look a bit orangey to me, so I’ve tentatively started them that way. They’ll likely change as the painting progresses because my eyes will adjust further and color relationships will become clearer to me.

Here the second flower is in and you can see how the bloom is a lot brighter. The picture is a bit on the light side here because I have an Ott Light above it. I’ve made better adjustments for this in the final picture.

I’ve put some color into the inside of the pot. A bit of Burnt Sienna and Naples Yellow with Burnt Umber for the darker areas. I’ve still reserved that orangey spot.

The last of the blooms are in here except for two. Nothing much has changed in the pot at this point except I’ve darkened a band around the rim.

Sorry for the glare here. It’s very hard to see on the camera when I’m taking the shots. The light in the studio is so carefully set with overheads off and separate lights dimmed and directed away from the still life, that it’s too dark to just snap a shot. I need to use a longer exposure that tends to pick up more light from other sources than I can see on the lCD display.

I’ve added the reflections from the blooms on the pot and also brightened the rim of the pot. Nothing much done on the inside yet.

My timer didn’t go off so almost 20 minutes elapsed here. The last two flower have been added and I also put in the stems of the flowers. The stems are made up of some of the Viridian Green and a bit of Cadmium Yellow Light.

On the fruit, I started by laying in the core shadow shapes with a darker (OK, I know it doesn’t look light) mixture of Viridian and Burnt Umber. You can see this on the apple to the left. The cast shadows were laid in with Burnt Umber on the table portion and a shadow mix of Ivory Black, Cad Yellow Light and White on the table cloth. I brushed in a bit of Yellow Ochre in both shadows to make them more transparent.

The apple color was basically Viridian, Cad Yellow Light with a bit of Cad Red Light to tone the hue. I used the darker mixture of Viridian and Burnt Umber for the turning edges and shadows on the apples slices.
Note the Yellow Ochre in the table cloth. Adding a bit of this or Cadmium Yellow Medium will make a white cloth glow when used sparingly in the shadows where you see light coming through the cloth.

The pot is looking up here. I’ve rounded the shape a bit and added a highlight to the rim of the pot. I’m starting to see more color in the interior but won’t add it until later.

This is the finished painting but it took another hour or so to get here.

The lights on the apple are in. Simple combo of Viridian Green, Cad Yellow Light and some white on the highlight portion. The stem was just some dark Burn Umber.

I’ve added the reflections of the fruit to the pot and brushed some more color from the flower into the bulge of the pot in the front to bring it forward. Note that the reflections in the pot are vague. I didn’t make them sharp edged because to do so in this type of painting only confuses the viewer.

The apple core color is Naples Yellow and a touch of Cadmium Yellow Medium. The pits are just a smidge of Burn Sienna.

For the table top, I used some Burn Sienna, Naples Yellow and touches of white to bring out the area where the light is hitting it. The front of the table is just a darker version of this color with smudges of Burn Umber and background color.
For the handles and foot of the pot, Just some small blobs of Naples Yellow and White mixture on a vaguely painted handle of Raw Umber. Note the shadow of the handle on the left side. This pops the handle and helps to give a dimension of reality. It’s these little touches that make all the difference. Thanks for stopping by!

If you’d like to purchase this painting, visit my blog at www.susanmartinspar.blogspot.com and click on the “Buy Now” button. You don’t need a PayPal account and can choose to use just your credit card. $99.00 USD plus $15.00 S/H.

Day One of David Leffel Workshop

Aaaagh! I forgot to bring the gizmo for my camera that downloads the photos!!! But take heart…I’m taking tons of photos and lots of notes. I promise you all I’ll start posting the workshop stuff as soon as I can following my return on Friday.

All my fears are put to rest. David Leffel is an incredible, humble, beautiful human being and an incredible teacher. We spent the first half of the day in a demonstration and the second half setting up and starting our own still life’s. It’s very exciting! There are about 20 students in the workshop and everyone is very intense about the work. Everyone is on a different level but it doesn’t seem to matter – David meets everyone on the level they are working on.

Just as I feared, I’m in workshop mode. But David said that my set up was great and the painting is coming along great so I shouldn’t worry. However, I’m attempting to do the entire panting in hog bristles which is a huge change for me. I generally lay in the painting with bristles and then switch to sables for the rest of the work. I feel like I’ve spent the day fighting the brushes. But so far I’m resisting the temptation to switch to my regulars. The palette is also a bit more limited than the one I generally use but so far that doesn’t seem to be too much of a problem.

I’m pretty beat tonight and I’m going to hop in the shower and then snuggle into a comfortable bed for some reading. I’ll check in with you all in a day or so.

Learning with David Leffel

I’ve been rather busy the last couple of months and things aren’t going to settle down anytime soon. My studio is undergoing re-construction this month and I’m taking a David Leffel workshop in Fall City starting this monday through Friday. I’m very excited. If you don’t know who David Leffel is, I suggest you Google him. He’s considered a living Master and his work has influenced every stroke of paint I’ve made in the past two years. He, above all, is considered one of the great teachers of our time. Here’s a comment on someone’s blog about him.

I consider it a great privilege to take a workshop with this painter and at the same time I’m terrified. I understand completely what my students feel when I approach their easels during a class. On one hand you are so hoping to get a kudo from the teacher, terrified they won’t say anything (what’s wrong with it????Is it that awful??? What am I paying you for?) and at the same time worried that they will. What I have resigned myself to being in “workshop curve”. I seem to forget everything I’ve ever known and everything I’ve ever studied, my hands become absolute paddles, my brain gets addled and I totally do a brain freeze on mixing color. What is that anyway? Sigh. But I’m still excited to meet the Master. I’ll be trying to post a few things to this blog during the week, but forgive me if it doesn’t happen. I promise to share everything and anything I learn with you all. Many thanks to Rosa for calling me about this workshop. I didn’t think at the time that I would be able to do it. My husband convinced me otherwise. What a gift.