Tulips Demo step 17

Now I've done the third orange with green bloom and completed the middle tulips, then started on the pale orange lower left as seen here, trying to overlap shapes and put darks against lights and vice versa.

Tulips Demo step 16

Now I must complete the middle section, so stay tuned!

Tulips Demo step 15

In this view, the magenta tulip and beginning of red one next to it are seen up close, just dripping in the rich colors against yellows of the old oil painting.

Demo Tulips step 14

The orange open tulip is now done with its center arylide yellow and gamboge at its base. I darkened the stamens using quin burnt orange and Midnight Blue, varying each one to be different.

Demo Tulips step 13

A close up view of the open tulip with its spread out petals. I used Organic Vermilion with touches of Permanent Red (DV). Stamens are quin gold while the base of tulip is Green Gold (DS) with quin gold.

Demo Tulips step 12

From this photo, you can see the back row is done. Front left purplish tulip is quinacridone violet, permanent rose, and quin magenta with darkest darks being Carbazole violet. Dark blackish stamens in the red/orange one is a mix of quin burnt orange + Midnight blue (AJ).

Demo Tulips step 11

Painting the pale pink tulip behind the white one was done using Taylor's Pink Flamingo by American Journey; it is an opaque. If you use more water, though, the pigment will behave like transparents. Its neighbor back there was also a darker pink using permanent rose. Red orange bloom was using Organic Vermilion, a most juicy vibrant orange by Daniel Smith; also used gamboge, permanent red (DV), and Grumbacher Red. The other white tulip is also started.

Stems/leaves were put in with mix of arylide and UB, Prussian, and manganese blue. Remember to always ALWAYS vary your colors. Tony Couch told us at his last workshop here to not go more than 3-4" without changing colors anywhere in a painting.

Demo Tulips step 10

Finally! We get to the fun part of the tulips and I want to get my white one done with a few glazes to separate its petals. Note the very light value of yellow green at its base. This is a mix of arylide yellow and phthalo green. That green is a strong stainer so be careful when using it as a little bit goes a long way.

Demo Tulips step 9

In this close up photo you can see where I've carried the lighter Prussian blue on down and around the blooms in front of the oil and underneath it to bottom lower left. Already I know I got too light value here so will have to glaze over it but only when it is DRY.

Demo Tulips step 8

I'm done now with the watercolor depiction of the oil painting. Extra colors used: Cobalt and ultramarine blue (DaVinci), Halloween Orange (American Journey).

Demo Tulips step 7

Now I've worked my way over to the far left side using Grumbacher Red, Permanent Red (Da Vinci), Organic Vermilion (Daniel Smith), Orchid (American Journey), and Green Gold (Daniel Smith).

Demo Tulips step 6

Now we're going back to the left side to lay in colors of the old oil painting of wine bottles. I'll try to mimic how oil looks using this medium. There's a first time for everything, right? I'm pretty sure this will require at least 2 glazes or applications if it is too light.

COLORS used for the frame: Raw sienna and quinacridone gold. Use same ones for the yellows along with arylide within the oil painting, plus quin magenta and cobalt teal blue.

Demo Tulips step 5

A bit more green to show you of the foliage area, middle right side. Keep in mind I am trying to put color in the strength I want it to be when dry. Since it dries 40% lighter, if your wet color looks just right, it ISN'T, and should be darker.

Demo Tulips step 4

Now I've gone down to begin foliage leaves. Using a mix of arylide yellow and Prussian on my 1" flat sable I'm going in between stems being careful to have the same value/color on both sides of a line. This is called the Rabbit Rule: If a rabbit goes to a tree and stops, he will keep going on past the tree on the other side. So you don't want your color to stop at a line; you want the viewer's eye to follow through.

Demo Tulips step 3

In this photo I've done the background wall all the way left to the edge of the oil painting's frame. Usually I only put down one application when painting directly alla prima, but can see I'll need to re-glaze the greenish midtones here.

Demo Tulips step 2

I'm continuing on across the dry paper with a very wet 1.5" flat Robert Simmons brush, loaded with Prussian blue, phthalo green, and small amount of permanet magenta (Daniel Smith). I'm cutting around tulip tops and down in between with the darkest pigments letting the colors mix and mingle.

Demo Tulips step 1

Starting with a vivid photograph of my tulips, I've sketched in the basic drawing directly onto dry Saunders 140 lb cold press (NOT) paper. Beginning with darks first on dry paper I'm laying in Prussian blue mixed with small amount of phthalo green by DaVinci. I don't always start with the background first but will with this painting. Feel free to ask questions as we go along.

Petal Pushers - Tulips Demo

15x22 watercolor of still life tulips set up in my dining room by an old oil painting. The light from the window behind illuminated the spring blooms perfectly. My hunter green wall adds a complementary punch to the vivid orange reds. I will be posting each step here as a demo lesson; this is the finished Petal Pushers on Saunders 140 lb paper.

Pals

5x7 watercolor of two friends, Saunie's gray tabby cat and her lovely large brown dog, basking in the early morning sunshine. This is on Saunders 140 lb paper with American Journey paints.

Time for Lilies

11x15 watercolor of one of my speckled red and white tiger lilies, just in time for almost-Spring. It is painted wet in wet on 140 lb paper, DS/DV paints.

Making Music New Orleans Style

18x24 watercolor on Canson Montval 140 lb cold press block with American Journey, DaVinci, and Daniel Smith paints. A step by step work in progress is being posted over on the group blog Art Colony if anyone would like to see how I start and finish a direct painting style watermedia.

Final Version of the Buffalo Herd

Some anatomical parts were corrected and/or enhanced for these poor frozen beasts plowing their way through a Great Plains blizzard. I hope this is the final version!

More Work on Bison Herd

Realizing the herd needed more cows I added two more today one at the front of the line and one bringing up the rear. I softened more edges and glazed the sky area with raw sienna + Coastal Fog.

Prairie Proud

14x22.5 watercolor on Arches 140 lb cold press paper. With all our snow and ice I decided to paint prairie bison as they worked their way across the plains in a windy blizzard.