Cabbages, Cabbages

Six cabbages and counting! This is turning into a large series.

Green Cabbage in Oil

Just completed my latest cabbage painting, my first in oil. This one really turned out to be striking, it turns my head every time I walk by it and let me tell you after staring at it for weeks, that is a feat.

I think this painting also expresses how excited I am about gardening this year, I can't wait to see if my (real) cabbages will be half as lush. Lets hope so!

Title: Green Cabbage in Oil

Size: 28"x32"

Medium: oil on canvas

Contact me for pricing.

Orange Flowers Tutorial Part 2: Stems and Leaves

As you can see I have added five more flowers to my painting since last time. Now, as promised, I will show you how to do very basic stems and leaves.

1. First arrange all of the materials that were outlined in Part 1 but this time include some nice shades of green instead of (in my case) the yellows, oranges and reds. I keep everything on my palette so that I can play with unusual color combinations.

2. Then with a pencil draw in your stems, I like to do this first because it gives me good foundation upon which to place the leaves. I recommend doing this step with a very light touch so that you can move anything that is not to your liking.

3. Add in leaves with your pencil, you can barely see mine but they should be attached to the stems in some way or coming in from outside of the frame.

4. I start painting the leaves first, unlike the petals I do not wet them with water first but rather pick up the paint with a wet brush and apply it directly to the paper. I used the lightest green first and then layer with darker greens in succession. This should remind you of working on the petals and it is similar. Remember that as you layer you want to take account of shadows and the shape of the leaf.

*I added a touch of deep yellow to the center of the leaves, just so that they do not look alien next to the flowers.

5. Repeat for all of your leaves.

6. Now on to the stems, for this I want to wet my brush but only slightly. If the brush is too wet you will not be able to keep the fine line of the stem. Again like the leaves I'm not going to wet my paper beforehand. For my colors I chose a deep yellow and the green I used for the leaves.

7. Add shadow to the stems, leaves and even the petals as you see fit. Try to think of what these flowers would look like sitting next to each other and where their shadows would fall. But also keep in mind that this is a very loose and playful painting, we are not actually doing a still life but rather a sort of imaginary flower.

8. Sign your name and there you have it, a very cheerful and bright painting!

Please send me any photos of your Orange Flowers and I will be sure to post them. Thanks and I hope this has been helpful!

Almost

Just a few more details left to do! I'm so excited to share the final result with all of you.

Orange Flowers Tutorial Part 1: Petals

I have always enjoyed painting these little flowers. They are very basic and yet create a very lively painting. For those that have never done a watercolor painting before this is an excellent beginning point and for those who have it is a time to play with new techniques.

1. Gather all the materials that you will need.

-A sheet of quality cold press watercolor paper.

-A pencil and a good eraser.

-Quality watercolors (I am using Windsor and Newton

in the following colors: Alizarin Crimson,

Cadmium Red, Cadmium Orange,

Lemon Yellow, Cadmium Yellow Pale,

and Ultramarine)

-A palette (if you don't have one use an old plate)

-Quality watercolor paint brushes

(make sure the bristles of the brush are nice and soft)

-A cup of clean water

-Paper towel

*Make sure that if you are using a single leaf of watercolor paper that you have something on which to tape it while painting, so that it does not buckle (wrinkle) as you apply the layers of color.

*It is best to prop the paper at an angle as you work, so that the watercolors can flow freely.

2. Begin by lightly sketching out your flower in pencil, try to be very relaxed. I like to begin with the petals. For now I am leaving out the stem and the foliage.

3. Once you have your flower drawn. Take a smaller paint brush and saturate it with the clean water, do not pick up any paint. Then wet the outline of one petal. We are going to work one petal at a time.

4. Before you apply any paint remember to tilt your paper so that it is at a constant angle (about 45 degrees) while you work. Begin with you lightest shade, in my case it would be a yellow. This is the lightest layer but I am still taking account of the form of the petal and where the light would hit it.

*Remember that the more water you use as you paint the lighter the color will be. Also that because we have wet our paper before applying paint we can move the color around, so if I paint in a spot that I really didn't want to I can wipe my brush, then wet it and shift the color.

5. Next apply the darker hue, in my case an bright orange. Do not wait for the yellow to dry. In this step I am even more careful to define the shape of the petal and its shadows.

6. Wait a few minutes for the two washes to dry slightly ( there will still be a shine to the paper when held to the light). Then using the even darker color add in small details and sharper shadows.

I am only going to use the darkest color around the center of the flower so as to give depth and give the illusion that the petal is coming out of the center.

7. Repeat steps 4-6 for all petals. Then allow for them to dry completely.

8. Taking a contrasting color, in my case an Ultramarine blue. Fill in the center of the flower, without wetting the area first. Make sure to leave a few spots without any pigment.

I added a bit of my darkest red to the mix so that the center would be tied in with the petals.

I hope this has been helpful! Remember that Mother's Day is coming up and this would make a lovely surprise.

If you decide to try your hand at painting these flowers please send me any questions or comments that you may have and if you include a picture I will post it on the blog!

And tune in next week for part 2: Stems and Leaves!

Still Growing

An update on the cabbage painting, its really coming along. I'm pretty happy with it at the moment. When I walk into the studio I get a shock from the lush greens. Oils really have a pleasant thickness to them, they almost produce a tactile experience.

Although, like I said before, I miss the stain glass look of the watercolors as I paint the leaves. I still really enjoy working with oil and its a completely different medium. Perhaps this is a good example of why I can't choose between the two.

Private Collection

Sometimes I have a lot of trouble letting go of my work. The painting becomes either sentimentally important or the amount of time invested makes it too dear to sell. While part of me wants very much for others to enjoy my work there is also the desire to hold on tight to these particular paintings.

So as a solution, I have earmarked a few paintings for my own collection. This has had the surprising effect of giving me more energy to create, I know a lot of people will say that getting rid of everything is refreshing (I'm not that way and I don't strive to be). Perhaps its taking out the business side of creating or just knowing that painting is still, in some ways, a relaxing activity. Besides thats what prints are for right?

Circular Landscape

While playing with different shapes of canvas, I decided to do a circular landscape. I ended up with this bright but haunting one of a field with the wood line in the distance.

Title: Circular Landscape

Medium: Watercolor on paper

Size: 10" Diameter

Spring Tulips

The tulips are not up around these parts, the ones pictured were a gift from a friendly neighbor. They prompted me to do a little painting of them.

I think this little one is going to turn into a study for a larger painting. Who can resist those lush petals?