For Alison Hill the muted colours of hydrangea flowers provide a rich source of inspiration for her watersoluble oil paintings

'For this painting my colour palette consisted of Winsor & Newton’s Artisan water-soluble oils,' says Alison.

'The flower heads were mixed from yellow and white, with touches of alizarin crimson and, in some cases, a touch of ultramarine.

'I mixed the basic green for the leaves from yellow and ultramarine modified with touches of alizarin crimson; white was added for the lighter tones.

'The final background colour was a mixture of ultramarine and alizarin crimson modified with touches of yellow, then lightened with varying amounts of white for all but the deepest tone.'

ORDER YOUR ARTISAN WATER-SOLUBLE OILS HERE

Demonstration: Hydrangea IV

Stage one

After deciding on a composition I made a fairly simple drawing, which was then transferred to the canvas.

I wanted the main interest to be in the foreground group but included one flower head in the background to add balance.

Stage two

For the underpainting I mixed burnt sienna with ultramarine to produce a rich bluish black, then added varying amounts of titanium white to produce a range of tones.

Stage three

At this point I had a general idea of the colour scheme I was aiming for.

I used the actual flowers as reference but didn’t stick religiously to the colours I could see as I was more concerned with achieving balance and creating a sombre mood

Stage four

Although I have a general idea of how I want to use colour when I start painting, I often find that I need to make slight adjustments as I work.

To help me make colour decisions I usually work different areas at the same time so I can see how one area interacts with another.

Here I have started to work on both the flowers and the background; the flowers had an overall pinkish hue.

Stage five

While working on the flower colour I started to add colour to the stems and leaves.

In order to unify the composition and give the flowers a faded, almost dusty appearance, I added touches of the greenish hues that had been used for the leaves to areas of the flowers.

Stage six - the finished painting

Hydrangea VI, oil on canvas, (30.5x40.5cm)

Once I’d modified the flower colour I decided that my background was too strong and drawing attention away from the main subject matter.

I adjusted the background colour by adding a touch of yellow.

To soften the background flower and give it a slightly out of focus appearance, I worked over the still wet paint with a dry hog hair brush.

SEE MORE WATER-SOLUBLE OIL PAINTING DEMONSTRATIONS

This article was taken from The Artist March 2009. Enjoy endless inspiration with access to past and present issues of both The Artist and Leisure Painter magazines, plus exclusive video demos, tutorials and more, with our Studio Membership! Discover how you can join today.