I begin some of my still-life paintings as block-ins, where I loosely imply most elements and the spaces in between with big, simple blocks of colour, slowly building details in layers. For this composition the whimsical design of my backdrop did not need further alteration, and I was working with fresh flowers that were going to wilt, so rather than a block-in I chose to proceed with a direct approach, which allowed me to complete small sections in detail so I did not have to go back in later with any finishing work.

I began with a large red Knockout rose placed towards the back of the arrangement, because Knockout roses wilt much faster than long stem roses and I wanted that area of the painting to serve as an anchor for converging lines. I also wanted to begin layering other elements such as leaves and baby’s breath over the rose while the paint was still wet. Once I began layering those elements it would be difficult to make further adjustments to that flower.

Demonstration: Still Life Study

STAGE ONE





In order to achieve my finished background, I mixed a wash of transparent oxide brown, viridian and mineral spirits, which I loosely painted in broad sweeping strokes slightly more than half-way down the canvas. I let the wash dry and set for several days, then applied a wash of titanium white, cadmium red, yellow ochre light and a scant amount of mineral spirits for a slightly more opaque foreground. I let my painting dry for several days. Once dry, I applied a small amount of mineral spirits with a narrow brush, as if I were painting the elegant designs of my backdrop. What I was doing was preparing to remove paint from the canvas. After brushing on the mineral spirits, I gently blotted the canvas with a paper towel and voila! There was my design. Allowing the wash to dry for a few days before employing this technique was helpful. I would not have been able to control the process as well had I been working on a wet background

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STAGE TWO

 

I began with a red Knockout rose, of which eight main petals were visible. I painted the shape of each petal with accurate single brushstrokes, then I went back in with colour and temperature changes to create dimension and define the character of the rose. Darker notes created depth as well as shadows. Lighter notes brought petals forward. I used a small palette knife to depict the innermost petals. I used clean, dry, sable brushes in a stippling fashion to blend values or colours for highly moulded areas and achieved other soft edges by lightly pulling one colour into another, again using a clean, but not necessarily dry, sable brush. Colour and value changes also affected the appearance of edges. Subtle variations gave the illusion of soft edges, whereas high contrast variations created harder edges. The dark, simple leaves, painted with no blending, offered a comparison reference for other edges like that of the rose. This section, as well as other sections, was painted to near completion, with very little block-in work. You'll notice as the painting progresses that this rose does not receive any further detail work.

 

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STAGE THREE

 

I laid down the foundation for a couple of the long stem pale pink roses with accurate shapes and a base colour that I could work into with more detail. The shapes of the roses were determined not just by the flowers themselves but also by the surrounding elements. Paint application during this phase remained relatively thin in order to maintain control and manipulate edges.

 

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STAGE FOUR

 

This was approximately mid-way through the painting process. Notice how the converging lines help establish focal points.

 

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STAGE FIVE

 

I added more flowers to the left and right of the centre grouping for balance. In addition, I began painting a string of black and white pearls, which tied the flowers into the foreground and added contrast.

 

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STAGE SIX

 

In the final stages of this painting I began adding a few more leaves, loose flower petals and baby’s breath (primarily for colour and balance), as well as finishing the string of pearls.

 

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Notice the changes made to the rose facing forward. From the very beginning my cat had taken long naps on my bed of flowers, crushing them, so I was constantly replacing crushed roses with new ones that closely resembled the originals. I scraped off most of the work I had done, preserving only a little of the original outer petals. Working with the new bloom provided an opportunity to capture the glowing red and coral shadows that defined the recessed areas between petals. Those luminescent shadows were not quite as visible on the original rose

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