Second painting session...White Water lily

I waited. Then I painted! The white paint was dry and ready for me to start applying the final layer. As you can see, it's pretty much done.

I ended up bumping the contrast as to make it more defined and interesting. The reference photo was very bright and overly exposed thus not having much in regards to depth. I will see once I've worked on the rest if I need to tone it down or not...but right now I think it works. What do you think?

I will add the final "bright" white spots at a later date...more than likely that will be when I'm adding all the final touches.

I'm really fond of the lemon yellow in the stamen. There's something so hopeful and cheerful about it! Almost like a shining yellow sun!

My next step is to tackle the lily pads. That will take the longest as there are so many! Stay tuned for more :)

close up of water lily

First painting session

Today was a productive day...well painting wise it was! As you can see, I have done much in regards to blocking in the canvas. Every bit of white canvas is now hidden with paint!

first painting session

 I decided to tackle the lily pads and water simultaneously as it was easier to define the lily pad edges when I had the water to counterbalance. Colours and shapes still need tweaking but I think I'm off to a good start.

I even decided to block in the water lily. Mostly because titanium white takes a while to dry and it's much easier to paint a nice bright white when there is a base layer already applied. Below is a closer view of  the painting.

close up view of progress

I think I will let the painting dry a little...maybe for a couple of days because as it stands right now everything is pretty slick and any additional applications result in paint being smudged around. A look that I do not want!

In the interim, I may even start another! I have two pieces that I plan on entering into a couple of summer exhibitions. I might sneak in a blog post or two of those...

Next up...White Waterlily

The Waterlily series continues with another10x30 inch painting. This one will feature a white waterlily surrounded by a multitude of lily pads.

As always my first step is to find an inspiring reference image from my digital photo archive. Every year it seems to double in size! This particular image came from a last year's visit to the Royal Botanical Gardens to see the Roses in bloom.

After I've adjusted the levels and found a suitable canvas size (I crop the image accordingly) in Photoshop, I print the reference out onto an 8.5 x 11 sheet of double sided matte paper. Sometimes I enlarge a section that requires more detail. In this case it was the waterlily.

Now I'm ready to start using oils!

reference image with close up of flower

I roughly transfer the image onto canvas using thinned out oil paint. The colour really doesn't matter as I will end up painting over the lines. Sometimes I go over areas with a darker shade to reinforce the proper shape. I really believe that a strong drawing will save time and avoid frustration when it's time to paint. I prefer to concentrate on the proper colour when I start the painting process and not on whether or not the object is in the correct place and if it's the right shape. Obviously I adjust the shapes as I paint, sometimes making them exaggerated or eliminating odd bumps, etc...

transferred image

My next step will be to start colour blocking the shapes. I'm not sure what I will tackle first. More than likely the lily pads and then the water. It also depends on how ambitious I'm feeling...I might decide on the water lily instead!

Red's final!

It's done! What do you think? The photo doesn't really do the final painting any justice...I didn't have the greatest lighting but it's still okay.

Red Waterlily | oil on canvas | 10x30 inches

As you can see, I finished the fourth lily pad. It has more of a purple tinge to it compared to the other three. I also played around with the water. Adding shades of green, blue and violet to the dark areas. The highlights were also added to the lily pads using Titanium White.

I had fun painting this one and I'm really looking forward to continuing on with the series...

...progress once again!

Again, I'm sooo very sorry for the delay in images! I have finally been able to sit back down and work on the painting. I don't have an image for the step between that last post and this one, I totally forgot to take a photo! You didn't miss much as I just decided to further colour block the lily pads and I left the waterlily blank.

My next painting session consisted of me deciding to tackle the waterlily and then everything else! Usually depending on time constraints, I prefer to colour block my objects but for the flower I decided to go straight into painting the final colours.

The colours of the flower in the painting differ from my reference as I was requested to make it red, which was fine with me. I had a challenge trying to make it 'red' and not appear too pink. Perhaps I didn't have the right shade of red in my paint arsenal but I think I did an okay job...? I used Alizarin Crimson and Vermillion with a touch of Magenta. I tried emphasizing the 'red' by using the Vermillion to outline petal edges and I added patches of it it pure form in certain areas. (see image below)

close up of flower

 

When I moved on to the lily pads I already had the general colours laid in, which made painting over them with the final ones less of a battle as I didn't have the white background to contend with.

I decided to make the edges more of a purple instead of red as I thought it would look better with the greens and the shades found in the water. The reflections in the water have shades of violet and gray. I also didn't want to over do it with the red! I think the combination of purple and green work extremely well, especially when the green is more yellow based and the purple is more pink based.

As you can see by the image I'm almost done! I just have the fourth lily pad to complete. The basic final colours are there and I only need to add small areas of varying colour.

painting in it's final stages

Once the paint becomes tacky I will be able to add the 'final' touches! They would include the lightest parts of the painting...the white dollop on the waterlily petal and my signature.

Then it will be on to the next painting...I still haven't decided which one it will be but stay tuned...!

2011

Hello!

If you have been following my blog then you will have noticed that I haven't been very vigilante with posting new entries! I've been busy with my other projects but please stay tuned because I WILL be posting current progress shots.

Until then, I would like to direct you to my etsy page where I will have prints, cards and screen printed accessories & apparel available for purchase.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/zoricak

I have also been working on my website, making a few changes here and there. I plan on doing a total redesign of my site...I'm excited about that!!!

Hope everyone is having a wonderful year and I look forward to adding new posts soon!

Zorica