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Flowers in a vase
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Message
Posted
Whenever I attempt this subject, it ends up in the bin. But after a break from painting, I’m giving it another go and am getting into difficulty already, mostly through lack of planning.
I am trying to paint roses that are an apricotish colour, but turn pink at the end of the petals. If I had planned it I would have started with a thin acrylic underpainting and moved onto oil, got the form by a tonal underpainting and finished with glazes to get the colour right.
However I didn’t do that and carried on with acrylic. It wasn’t working as my reference photos did not show the form well enough, so the painted version also lacked modelling. So I took more pictures of roses in my garden and substituted them for the long dead reference picture. So it is still a bit of a mess, but hopefully with more promise. Any tips would be welcome.
Posted
I like all the colours Linda. The vase sets off the flowers very well, as does the background. Two things - a small thing… the vase reflection is not quite spot on and how about losing a bit of the form as it goes into the shadow( the vase, not the reflection). The flowers need more tonal variation, the light seems to be coming more from the right as we look at the painting, perhaps exaggerate this more and then you can add more tones. It’s a lovely subject, love that vase!
Posted
Thanks Marjorie! You are right the light is coming from the right. I will try to make more of it and I agree with more tonal variation. It is interesting that it all becomes clear, when a photo is taken. But it is gradually improving. The previous version and original composition are below.
Edited
by Linda Wilson
Posted
No where near complete yet. Each flower is more difficult than a portrait. I have boosted the highlights and increased the pinkness as well as added some more underpainting on the leaves. Also tried to correct the reflection of the vase. I plan to add an orange glaze to the flowers eventually, but hopefully they are now more uniform in colour.
Posted
The effect of the glaze can be seen (on my monitor anyway!) and I think it has indeed achieved what you wanted to - i.e. it's brought the painting together. You've worked entirely with acrylic, I think? I don't often paint flowers, but when I do - or did - I found oil a lot more malleable than acrylic; softening edges in acrylic is hard work - which isn't to say it can't be done; it does lend itself to hard edges though ....
Posted
Well done Marjorie and Robert for spotting the orange glaze and yes it is all in Acrylic. I went too far with the acrylics to convert to oils. The flowers still don’t look real to me, but I realised that actual representation of the real flowers is far too difficult the the pink edges and yellow inner petals. None of my photos show the form terribly well as the petals are pale and translucent. I think I will sit on it for a couple of days before I do any more fixes.
