Painting back lit Hellebores, step by step.

One of my favourite flowers to paint are Hellebores. They flower in winter and spring, when there is very few other flowers in bloom. I have a few growing in my back garden , but usually visit RHS Wisley to see the large displays of them every year.

I take many photographs of flowers, mainly as inspiration and starting points for my art. I find back lit flowers to be really inspirational. The back lighting shows off the structure by making the leaves and petals almost transparent. This sort of lighting brings out a wider range of colours than you would see in regular light. This is just perfect for a floral artist, who likes to view things in a slightly different way!!

So this is the finished painting. Followed by the stages that got me to this point!!

Firstly I drew out the hellebores on to the canvas. My photo of this stage was not very distinct, so I haven't included it here. Next I started to fill in the shapes with some basic colours. There is very little tone and contrast at this stage. I haven't worked in to the colours much. I have only used about 3 shades of pink and a bit of purple. I am using a size 4 and 6 brush, and working with acrylic paint.

Next I decided on a major change and painted the background black.

After this I started to play around with the colours a bit more. The black background was too harsh. I added some blues to the top and some green to the base. I started to work brighter and bolder colours in to the flowers and leaves. I wanted to get the feel of sunlight coming through the painting. For this you need high contrast.

My next stage was change the background a bit more, I got rid of the green at the bottom as it took the emphasis away from the flowers. I took the turquoise out of the blues in the background by adding a purplish  blue over the top.  If you look closely you will see I have changed some of the flowers and leaves at the top to improve the composition. I have also added a lot more white to the flowers. This really helps make the petals look translucent. I am now using much smaller brushes, Mainly size 2 down to size 00.

The final painting. It may be hard to see what has changed, However there is just more attention to detail and fine tweaks to light and dark areas.

This painting was done using Chromacolor, Procolour and Golden acrylic paints. It was finished off with 3 layers of Golden UV varnish to protect the surface.

This painting was featured in the Society of Floral Painters Exhibition in Chichester earlier in the year. The society likes canvas works to be framed. So I put this in a lovely burnished gilt wooden floater frame, as you can see below.

This painting is now up for sale on Artfinder. There is a link on the sidebar of this blog. 


I also have another hellebore painting for sale on Artfinder. This one is sold as a mounted original. It is on paper (mounted on board) and then put in to an ivory mount and backboard.

Thanks for reading my blogpost! Comments always appreciated.

A painting of Canna lilies.

My latest painting of Canna lilies. This was based on some photographs I took of canna lilies in a park in Seville in Spain, recently. They were lovely big flowers, slightly back lit with the bright sunshine there.

The finished painting 

I started by sketching the outline of the canna lilies and then blocking in the background with green paint.  I knew the background colour would change though!

Next I blocked in the main colours. I started with the darkest and lightest tones, then worked in a range of mid tones. It looks ok from a distance, but up close is still a bit messy at this stage! I also added some yellow and bright green swirls to the background.

My final painting has a dotty background which still has glimpses of the bright yellow/green through it. I have added a lot of surface detail to the flowers.

This shows the painting with a white mount. I have since framed it, and it will be on sale later in the year.

Painting a red rose in acrylic. Step by step

Roses are wonderful flowers to paint. The way the petals overlap and catch the light is fascinating!  I find them quite challenging to capture the depth and solidity of the shape, as well as the delicate, almost transparent, effect of the petals against the light.

I have painted a red rose. 

Here is how I did this painting.

Firstly I made a sketch. This is done using pencil with broad strokes. It is a very rough drawing just to get the feel of the shapes. I have used a thin black pen on some of the edges too.

Next I did a tonal study using thin washes of black paint, followed by more pencil work to define the shapes. I have added a few swirls in the background to indicate how I want the background to look.

Now on to some paint! I am working on thick card, as this painting will go in a frame. I sketched out the main outline shape of the rose first. I have decided to do the background in a soft beige peach colour.

My next stage is to block in all the light and dark areas. I am using acrylic paint. I am using a mixture of different liquid acrylics, mainly Chromacolour, Procolour, Golden and AJ Vallejo. Most of this work is done with medium sized brushes sizes 4 and 6. Some of the smaller shapes are a size 2 brush.

The colours are built up in layers. I put the darkest tones on first, as this helps show the structure. I then add middle tones which gives the rose some form. I then add white highlights. Once I have the three basic tonal areas done, I mix up the "in between" colours and add these over the top.

This is a red rose, but I am using orange, pink, brown and purple as well. This is to break up the surface and make the painting more visually interesting. I would struggle to get enough contrast without a wide range of colours.

My usual painting style is to work in a "sort of" impressionistic way, with lots of small dabs of paint. My paintings are built up of many layers of paint, which give a textured look. I like to make the background an important and integral part of the painting too.

Here are some close up areas of my technique, as I develop this painting.

The final painting,  I have added grey, pale blue and white dots in the background to make swirls.  I have worked in many layers of additional paint dots and lines on top of my initial colours. I have used the paint in different directions, on the petals, to show the way the flower grows.

This will go in to a frame. I will update this post to show you that, when I have framed it. Also I will add in the information where it will be on sale later.

A painting of four purple irises. Step by step.

Here is my latest iris painting!!

This is a very bright bold painting, A real splash of summer colour!

I started by drawing the outlines on to a canvas. I never draw in detail, as I do all the detail directly with the paint.

Next I blocked in the background colour and painted the stems. I used a basic level quality acrylic paint.

My next stage was to start working on all the various shades of purple in the iris flowers. I am now using better quality acrylic. Mainly Chromacolour with some AJ Vallejo acrylic gouache and some Golden liquid acrylic.  I have decided to add some leaves to fill up the space at the bottom, and balance the composition.

Next I start working some pattern in to the background. this is a series of dots in swirls. I use yellows, reds, pinks and oranges that compliment the main background colour. I do dots of different sizes, and layer them up.  I have also added some additional detail to the flowers and buds.

 Here is a close up to show a section of the painting.....not yet finished, as you can see.  I have really worked in to the background to show greater contrast.  I still need to complete the purles on the flowers with the final layers of detailing and texture.

The completed painting.

This painting was the one that I used as a demonstration at the Society of Floral Painters exhibition last month.  I promised several people who watched me painting that I would get it on here when completed. So here it is!!! 

The painting will be on sale later in the year, probably at the Windsor contemporary Art Fair. 

A painting of Parrot Tulips. Step by step.

My latest painting is of four parrot tulips. I have a selection of these attractive vibrant flowers growing in my back garden at the moment. However when I stared the painting they were not in bloom. So I worked from last years photos initially, but was able to take inspiration from the real things as I completed the work.

Here is the finished painting.

Tulips in my back garden.

Here is how I did the painting!!

Working from photographs initially, I drew the outlines in pencil,showing different aspects of the flowers. I am working on canvas. I then coloured the background black. I used System 3 acrylic at this stage.
I then painted in some of the yellow areas on the flowers plus the green stems.

Above are the next two stages of my painting.  I added red and orange areas to the tulips. There is very little detail at this stage, just simple blocks of colour. I am using a size 4 brush for most of this stage.
I then added some stripes of jade green to the background, and started to texture it with blue and black dots.

I then used a mixture of Chromacolour, AJ Vallejo acrylic gouache and Turner acrylic gouache to complete the painting. The entire surface of this painting is impressionistic dots. I had only intended to do this on the background ( a technique I use in many of my paintings! ) but extended it to the flowers too. I like the fact this painting looks so realistic from a distance but breaks up in to blobs of colour as you get close to it.
 I use a range of different reds, oranges and yellows plus areas of pink, purple brown and white to give definition.  I worked with brush sizes 2 to 000 on the dots.

I varnished the painting using a mixture of matte and gloss varnishes. I have found that this gives a lovely semi shine to the work and really enhances the colours. I use varnishes by Golden.

The weather was lovely and sunny so I was able to finish this painting in the garden.

The painting has now been framed. I used a simple black floater frame around the canvas. The painting has a lot of work in it so a simple frame was all that it needed. I am not a fan of fussy or over decorative frames. Most of my canvas work is usually left unframed.

This painting will be entered in to  the Society of Floral Painters exhibition in Chichester 20th May to 7th June.

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.