Paintings of tulips in acrylics.

I have recently completed some paintings of tulips. These have been inspired by the lovely flowers in my garden and from visits to public parks such as RHS Wisley and Regents park in London.  All the work is in acrylic paint.

I did this as a small painting. Initially as a test for a larger painting. However, I ended up completing this one, as I enjoyed doing it so much!   Below is the larger version. I have changed the colours a bit, and the composition is a bit less busy.

The two paintings together, to get a sense of scale.

I also did the one below. This is a backlit study of tulips. The see through quality shows some interesting new shapes within the petals.

My next painting is a group of tulips, These were more white in reality. I really exaggerated the colours to get a more dramatic painting. I am not very good at painting white flowers, as I love big bold colours too much!!

Here are some of the paintings mounted and packed in cellophane ready for sale. I shall also sell these as prints. I may produce them as greetings cards later too.

Some of these are on sale in my Etsy shop  have a look here at affordable prices as I am selling direct to you!!  Others are available at Artfinder. there is a link on the sidebar.

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.

Roz Edwards, Floral artist. Recent paintings.

I have painted quite a lot of floral paintings in the last few months. 


However, I have not posted here for awhile so thought I would add some photos of my recent paintings, all in one place!!    Some of them I will add on to this blog as step by step demonstrations, when I have some spare time!!  Some of them are already on the blog...have a look if you missed them first time!!

I will be exhibiting at the annual exhibition of the Society of Floral Painters in less than 2 months time.   The website is available by clicking  here

I will also be at the Floral fringe Fair on May 30 and 31.  The website is here

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.