Painting Purple Irises, step by step.

I have completed another painting of my favourite flowers, Irises. This time I have looked at big bold dark purple ones.  This is painted in acrylic on canvas, and will be for sale, at an exhibition later in the year.
So here is a sneak preview of the finished painting followed by the stages of painting to create it.

I have worked from photographs, that I took last summer.
My first stage was to draw the outlines. I used a canvas painted red, as I am not keen on working on white backgrounds. I used pencil initially, and then went over the pencil with white acrylic paint using a size 1 brush.

Next I start to fill in some of the background colours for the flowers.


The next two stages show how I develop the detail on the flowers, with layers of acrylic. I have exaggerated light and shade contrasts to make the flowers more visually interesting.  The original photos had very little contrast, and looked fairly flat.  I am using Chromacolour acrylic and AV Vallejo acrylic gouache for the detail. I am using brush size 2 down to 00 at this stage.

I have started to add some oranges, reds and yellows in the background. The yellow is placed under the darkest part of the petals, to make the purple stand out more.

Here is my finished painting, in my studio. I have added masses more detail to the background, so the flowers are surrounded by swirls of hot colours. The background is painted in many layers of dots. This is time consuming but worth the effort, as it adds so much to the depth of the painting. I rarely have a plain background on any of my paintings,

Some close ups to show technique.

Here is another photo of the finished painting.

This is for sale on Artfinder. There is a link on the sidebar.

Thanks for looking. Comments always appreciated.

Painting orange irises step by step

I have painted some of my fave flowers. irises, in lovely shades of orange. 

As usual I shall show you the finished painting, then show you how it all came together, step by step.

 I am enjoying working on long rectangular canvases at the moment, as they give an opportunity to experiment with slightly different composition. Firstly I painted the canvas with a pale grey acrylic. I am never keen to work on white, as regular readers of this blog will know. I then drew my irises on with pencil. This was followed by a thin layer of white acrylic, using a small size 1 brush to outline the flower shapes. I never draw detail...I do it all with the paint.

Next I added some very basic colours to get a feel of the composition and colour balance.

After this I worked a bit more in to the individual flowers. I am using a mixture of Chromacolour paint and acrylic goauche. I am using size 2 and 4 brushes. I have put some bold stripes in the background using Paynes Grey. 

My next area of work is to break up the background with lots ( and lots! ) of dots and blobs. These need to mix together to soften the background. I am using a size 2 and 00 brushes to work in to the flowers. I am adding many layers of different reds, oranges and yellows.

My finished painting. I have removed one of the buds, and continued to work in to the flowers with many small marks. The background has about another million ( !! ) dots on it using shades of grey and deep blues. I have added some red violet in to the irises to increase contrast.

This one will appear at an exhibition later in the year. I have several booked up, but have yet to assign which paintings will go to which events !

A painting of 3 Canna lilies, step by step

I have just completed another painting of Canna lilies.

 I find these very interesting to paint due to their varied shapes. These were painted from photos I took late in the season. The Canna's were just starting to go over. This introduced some interesting brown faded petals, as well as the usual vibrant orange ones. I have kept these in the painting for contrast. I have not tried to pretty them up...I prefer flowers to be natural.

So here is how I did this painting, step by step.

Firstly I drew some  basic outlines. This is on canvas.

I then isolated the flowers by painting in a turquoise background. I am using acrylic paint.

Next I start to put some basic background colours in for the actual flowers. These are unmixed paints, just red, yellow and orange. At this stage I have not even thought about the leaves.

 After this I paint in the stems, and a selection of leaves. Cannas have very large leaves, that look amazing when back lit, showing a range of colours.

I then  decide to reduce the amount of leaves, as it looks crowded and distracts from the flowers.  I have darkened the top of the blue background. I have also worked in to the flowers with some additional tones,

My next stage is to  break up the background with some swirls of different blues.  I also keep working in to the flowers with smaller detail.

My finished painting.  I have worked a bit more in to the leaves, the background, and put some subtle texture and shading on the flowers.

Like most of my paintings, this is a stylized version of the plants. I do not aim to be totally botanically accurate....although I do aim to be fairly close. I just play with a few elements to make the painting more visually interesting. 

This will be for sale later in the year. I will update this post with details.

Painting Canna Lilies. Step by Step

I have painted some wonderful Canna lilies that I photographed a couple of months ago. They were coming to the end of their flowering season, so some of the petals were starting to fade. This actually made them more interesting to paint due to the greater range of colours displayed.

Here are the final paintings, followed by a step by step showing how I painted them. 

I decided to paint a pair of paintings, as I had some lovely long thin canvases, which seemed an interesting shape to paint on! 

I painted the canvases all over with Paynes Grey. I used System 3 paint for this bit. I wanted a dramatic contrasting colour scheme right from the start.

I drew the outlines with pencil and then went over it with white paint. At this stage I am only thinking about the flowers, not the leaves.

I next start working in some of the shades of yellow, orange and red that make up the petals.

Following this I continue to add detail by building up the layers of paint. I am using an acrylic gouache, so it dries quickly enabling me to build on my work without having to wait for much drying time.  The paint I am using is by AV Vallejo, and there is a link to where you can buy it on the side bar of this page.
Here I am just showing a close up of the top of the painting. I haven't really thought about the leaves at this stage!

Next I put in some leaf outlines. Canna lilies have lovely striped leaves, that are as interesting as the flowers.

I then add some green paint to the leaves. Its fairly basic at this stage, just to define the shapes.

After this I start to play about with the leaf colour. I add some crimson and purple shades.

I then start to think about lighting. I want to give the impression that these are backlit. I start increasing the contrast of colours and shading on the leaves. I deepen areas where stems and leaves overlap.  I have also added more detail and contrast to the flowers.

My next stage is to neaten up the stripes on the leaves. This takes quite a while to do. I am using a size 1 and 0 brush for some of the smaller detail.

My painting is now finished !  I have  reduced the size of a couple of leaves, where they overcrowded the flowers. I have used a very dark purple and blue to add textured dots over the background. This enhances the negative shapes, and draws your eye around the work. I am a great believer it not having a plain background, when it can become a more integral part of the work.

 I have added loads of small detail all over, emphasizing veins and colours on the flower petals, and stripes on the leaves. The colours are a lot more vivid.

Here are a few close ups so you can see the techniques used.

As you can see I have used a wide range of colours in these paintings. You see more every time you look at it.  It has been an enjoyable experience painting these, and I have already started a new painting of three Canna lilies, on just one canvas this time!  I shall aim to get a very different finished result this time. I will put the results on this blog when completed.

Comments always appreciated. 

A painting of 3 irises in acrylic

My latest iris painting has been featured on Jacksons Art blog.

If you want to read how I did this painting, step by step please click on  THIS LINK  to view.

I have shared my art with Jacksons in the hope I will get some new regular readers to my blog.  I bought the paints I used for this painting from them.  I use AV Vallejo acrylic gouache, which is a lovely new paint I discovered earlier in the year. Prior to that most of my paintings were done in Chromacolour. However, I felt a need to try something different. I will probably mix the two types of paint together on my next painting, to see how that works. They are both acrylic based paints, so it should work well.

I have several new paintings on the go at the moment, so will post again on here as soon as they become completed.

An article about my Art

I have just had this article published on the Jacksons Art Blog.

I have been interviewed about my style of painting.

Have a look at the article BY CLICKING HERE

A large close up painting of an Iris. Step by step

I have just finished doing this iris painting.  I have used a selection of acrylic paints, to build it up in layers.

I will show a larger pic at the end of the blog, after the step by step bit...!

I wanted to do a really detailed close up, but still in my usual "dotty" style.

I love the look of back lit flowers, so decided to do it in that style. I am drawn to  the dramatic contrasts you get with the light and dark.

I drew a rough outline on to the canvas. in pencil.

I then filled in the background with Prussian Blue, and put a few areas of lighter, washed out blues on to the flower, just to define the shapes.

I have now put a thin wash of all the main colour areas. However, at this stage I have not really worked much in to detail and contrast.

I am now really looking closely at the areas of individual colour, plus light and shade.  I have started to really layer up the paint, working in small dabs and dots.

I continue to add small detail and to refine the previous work. I have changed the background colour a bit too.

The final painting.  I have added some dark swirls of dots in to the background. I have built up the detail all over.

I am fairly pleased with this one, and shall do some more in this style.

This painting is now for sale in my Etsy shop for a few months.  Have a look HERE

If it does not sell on Etsy it will go to a gallery....but remember I have to double the price in a gallery as they take 50% commission.   This is why I regularly try and sell my paintings online first to give people a chance to own them at a fair and affordable price.