The Temptation of the Peony

Before temptation took me

After giving in

Complete

Close up

 

   I absolutely could not resist. The whiteness on some of the leaves was so distracting. And I'd also accidently dribbled a few drops of water on the dark background. I HAD to do something. So I masked the perimeter of the flower, mixed up a batch of warm green, spritzed the page, and let loose. I think it looks much better, but I would very much appreciate some feedback. I thank you. [ahead of time]

  

I

Still at the Day job, BUT Trying to Paint, Too

I am here

   My apologies for the inconsistency of the color intensities - me, the camera, the lighting, the computer. I have started on the center of the flower, and also deepened some of the petal values with variations of lavender [aureolin, quin. pink and cobalt blue] And I still REALLY want to mask the flower, and pour some sort of warm, dark green over the rest of the painting. I'm trying to resist the temptation, knowing that in later removing the masking fluid, I will lose a lot of the flower color in very irregular patches.

A Big Project Continues ... or ... All I See Is GREEN!

Here is where I was 3 days ago

First few background washes

Background around flower done. May have to darken around leaves.

   The background around the flower is done. It was a bit harrowing at times, with pigment moving around as I wet the paper for a wash. I think I'll have to get an Isobey squirrel mop; they're apparently much softer. If anyone knows where I could buy one, in or around Vancouver, B.C., please let me know.
   Now I'll tackle the flower, which I hope will be just fussy and not too difficult. Then the leaves will most likely need some shadowing and touching up. To be continued ...

Taking It Slowly ...

Photo I took at Darts Hill last summer

Road map

1st day of painting

2nd day

3rd day

4th day

   This painting will be fairly large, about 17 x 21 inches of framable image, when completed. I'm going quite slowly, many layers of glazing. And, contrary to my usual habit, I am painting the background first. I thought this wiser, as the peony has such beautiful, light values. I hope to finish the leaves this weekend, and paint all the background preparatory to starting the flower. To be continued ...