A painting of orchids. Step by step

A painting of orchids, step by step.

I have just completed a new painting of orchids.It is painted in acrylic paints on a wooden board support. It looks like a deep sided canvas, but is actually just wood. It was a nice surface to work on. 

Here is a small image of  the finished painting, followed by the stages I went through to create it. 

Firstly I painted my wooded board a deep pink. It had an old painting underneath, that I no longer wanted. I then did a rough outline of the orchids in white pastel.  You can still see a bit of the old painting, through this, but it won't matter!

Next I started to add a few basic colours. I have just used diluted acrylic paint. I wanted to separate the flowers from the background.

Following this I worked a bit more paint on to each flower. I wanted this to be about light and contrast as well as the flowers.

I then decided to change the background a bit, The light pink was put on to show the direction of the light coming in to the composition. However, I dont think this really worked, so it didn't last long!!   I continue to play around with the shades on each flower, and darken the stems and buds.

After this I really build up the contrast on both the background and the flowers. I try to put dark background against pale flowers and vice versa. I still wasn't too happy about the whole thing. In fact, I actually abandoned this for about 3 months before getting back to it. Sometimes that is the best thing to do with a painting, as you re approach it with fresh eyes and fresh ideas.

So after my break I came back and added blue to the background, I left enough of the previous background showing through to not lose all the light and shade though.  I use one of my favourite styles, which is a dotty pointillist style. I just love the way it breaks up the colours and adds such vibrancy to the paint surface.

I then work much more in to each individual flower.

This is the final painting. I have continued to develop each individual flower. I have exaggerated the contrast a bit more, and altered a few individual flower shapes. I have added more of the dotted surface on to the flowers as well as the background.

Orange Godetia painting

Here is a painting I did a few years ago.  It is based on some godetia flowers, growing in my garden. The original flowers are mainly pink. I changed them to orange shades, as this painting was always planned to hang in my living room, where orange and yellow colours work best.

It is done in acrylic, and the swirly style, in the background,  is influenced by Van Gogh .

Acrylic painting of 4 Irises. Step by step.

I have just completed a new painting. Yet again I have used irises as the subject matter!! I really do love painting irises!

Here is the finished painting, followed by step by step how I created it.

I have painted this in my favourite medium which is acrylics. I stared with regular acrylic and added detail with Chromacolour acrylic, as I progressed through the work. It is painted on canvas.

Firstly I drew a really rough outline of where I wanted the flowers to go. I like the cropped effect of them going over the edge. it breaks the background up into interesting shapes.

This was painted over a painting I gave up on. Hence the messy white paint background I used to cover the old one up. 

Next I isolated the flowers by painting a strong turquoise background. At this stage I am not sure if this will work as the final colour...but hey, it will do for now!

The next stage was to start painting in the flowers. I have done a lot of purple irises in other paintings, so was keen to try something different this time. I rarely use yellowy tones as I cannot get the contrast I get with deeper colours. So orange, red and brown would be needed to give definition and shade.

Following this I started working into the other 3 flowers...and yes, I have gone back to my favourite purple and white!!

I then added more foliage, and some buds. I also started to break the turquoise background up with a few other shades.  At this point I have decided to keep this sort of colour scheme for the background, but need to avoid it being flat.

Following this I work some contrast in to the flowers, especially the yellow one. I add dabs of paint to give some interest to the background. The swirly pattern also leads your eye around the painting.

My next stage is to add dark contrast areas to the yellow iris. Also to work a bit on the buds and stems.

I then deepen all the shading on the swirls in the background. I also work some fine details in to all the petals. On the yellow iris I introduce some lime green, and on the purple irises, some blue.

It is almost finished. I work in some smaller dabs of colour on the stems and buds. I put more white on to the purple irises. I do not want this to become too realistic. I want the pattern of the paint strokes to stylize the painting. I have to be careful not to over work it!!

At last the finished painting!!  A bit more contrast here and there. A bit more subtle change of colour work...and its done!!

This will be up for sale soon as prints, cards..... and at some point the original too. 

I will update this blog post with links to where you can buy the items .