Category: Still Life

Categories
Art Flower Art Glass Oil Painting Painting Rose Still Life

Roses with Blue Cloth

Roses with Blue Cloth," oil on Arches Oil paper, 12x9"
Roses with Blue Cloth,” oil on Arches Oil paper, 12×9″

I made a good start with the drawing and getting the first rose blocked in on my first painting day but sadly, overnight the roses completely changed color and shape, as you can see in the reference photos below.

Clockwise from top left: Photo of roses day 1, Photo of same roses day 2, finished painting, WIP day one with setup.
Clockwise from top left: Photo of roses day 1, Photo of same roses day 2, finished painting, WIP day one with setup.

I had to finish the painting using the reference photo and rediscovered how much fun it can be working from close-up enlarged photos of flowers and glass, looking for all the little nuances and details.

Clockwise from top left: Reference photo, WIP: initial drawing and block-in, second rose added, leaves added.
Clockwise from top left: Reference photo, WIP: initial drawing and block-in, second rose added, leaves added.

I chose the background cloth rather spontaneously. While it appealed to me on the day I set up the still life, I began to regret how intense the color was. I experimented with changing it, but decided it would be better to just finish this painting and make another painting than to try to reinvent the background colors and keep messing with this one.

Working on the background and vases, retouching the flowers
Working on the background and vases, retouching the flowers

Perhaps for my next flower painting I will paint one as a portrait, enlarged, close-up as if I was painting a head and shoulders of a person (like the portrait I’m working on right now). 

Categories
Art Flower Art Oil Painting Rose Still Life

Mr. Grumpy’s Cheery Roses

“Mr. Grumpy’s Cheery Roses”, painted from life, finished from photo after flowers died, oil on canvas, 12x9”
“Mr. Grumpy’s Cheery Roses”, painted from life, finished from photo after flowers died, oil on canvas, 12×9”

After taking cuttings from my neighbor’s yard (with permission this time) I painted these from life but had to finish them from a photo after the flowers died. I experimented with starting with an acrylic underpainting but I’m so unskilled with acrylics that it didn’t really create a useful value-study underpainting as you can see below.

Clockwise from top left: Photo of flowers when I started, acrylic underpainting, getting started with my focal rose, then some darks and leaves
Clockwise from top left: Photo of flowers when I started, acrylic underpainting, getting started with my focal rose, then some darks and leaves

I’m still trying to find my way with roses. I’m quite attracted by simplified, more abstract ways of painting flowers, but my own tendencies towards detail always seems to override my intentions. Maybe if I painted really large, I could put in all the details, turning them into abstract shapes? Hmmmm….. 

Flowers and leaves blocked in, background and glass and stems added, darks and lights restated, final.
Flowers and leaves blocked in, background and glass and stems added, darks and lights restated, final.
Categories
Art Flower Art Glass Oil Painting Rose Still Life

White Roses, Grandma’s Vase (and a Great Little Still Life Lamp)

White Roses: Spring Rose Series #7” Oil on Yupo, 12x9”
White Roses: Spring Rose Series #7” Oil on Yupo, 12×9”

I was happy that I met my two goals for this painting: 1) to keep it light and airy and 2) to draw and paint the flowers quickly before they changed or died.

I did the drawing on the first afternoon; painted the flowers and the background and began the vase on the second afternoon. I completed the rest of the painting the next morning, knowing it was my last chance before I’d be out of the studio for a few days. You can see the steps in the process photos below.

  • Photo of set up
    Photo of set up
  • Drawing in pencil on Yupo
    Drawing in pencil on Yupo
  • Day 2: Putting in Darkest darks on flowers and background
    Day 2: Putting in Darkest darks on flowers and background
  • Day 2: Getting the flowers blocked in
    Day 2: Getting the flowers blocked in
  • Day 2: Finishing flower block-in, background and starting on vase
    Day 2: Finishing flower block-in, background and starting on vase
  • Day 3: Finishing vase, adding finishing touches to background and flowers
    Day 3: Finishing vase, adding finishing touches to background and flowers

When I returned three days later the flowers were quite dead. Although I had a reference photo I could have used to “touch up” a few things, I felt that I’d said what I had to say and for once was willing to let it be as is instead of endlessly trying to perfect things.

Set up with clamp on LED 3-color lamp
Set up with clamp on LED 3-color lamp

One thing that made the painting really enjoyable was the discovery of this inexpensive and wonderful little clamp-on LED light that can be set to provide warm light, cool light or medium temperature light. It provided a perfect amount of directional light for lighting a still life and was easy to clamp on to my foam-core still life shadow box. The side of the box wasn’t quite tall enough so I just clamped on another piece of foam core and attached it to that. Since the light doesn’t weigh much it didn’t need anything more sturdy. No more clutter from a standing lamp or glare in my eyes from big heavy clamp on lights.

Categories
Art Flower Art Glass Oil Painting Rose Still Life

Spring Rose Series #6

“Spring Rose Series #6”, oil on Yupo, 12x9”.
“Spring Rose Series #6”, oil on Yupo, 12×9”.

I was careful to get these roses painted in one afternoon, after spending a couple hours arranging the still life and getting the drawing down because I knew the flowers would keep changing. On the second afternoon I worked on the leaves and background. I saved the vase for last, thinking it wouldn’t change. But of course it did, as the flowers slumped and the water level dropped. I wanted to paint it from life, but had trouble making sense of what I was seeing and ended up wiping it off. 

By the next day I had to toss the flowers so I used a photo reference on my iPad of the vase. Two more days of fails and wipe-offs followed. Finally I got to a point where I was willing to declare it done. You can see some of the steps in the process below.

Photo reference and initial block in stages
Photo reference and initial block in stages. Worked on flowers first.
Worked on leaves and background. Tried and failed repeatedly with vase.
Worked on leaves and background. Tried and failed repeatedly with vase.
Categories
Art Flower Art Glass Oil Painting Painting Rose Still Life

Spring Rose Series #5 (and #2-#4)

“Spring Rose Series #5” Oil on Yupo, 12x9”
“Spring Rose Series #5” Oil on Yupo, 12×9”

I was happy with this painting of my roses, done from life in 2 1/2 afternoons, especially after having tried and failed several times to paint my neighbor’s pink roses. (See below for photos of the process).

I’d read that oil painting on Yupo paper worked well and was archival so decided to give it a try with a pad of Yupo I’d bought long ago for watercolor. It hadn’t fit my watercolor style then, but I found it very fun to paint on with oils and also easy to wipe off. It’s similar to painting on DuraLar except it’s not transparent.

Photo of setup and steps in the process
Photo of setup and steps in the process of painting above

Every time I tried to paint my neighbor’s roses, I’d get the drawing and block in started, run out of time and the next morning the flowers had slumped or collapsed to the point I’d have to give up, wipe off and start over.

Roses painting attempt 3 and 4
Roses painting attempt 3 and 4

I finally decided the square oil primed linen panel was jinxed and abandoned it. (Or maybe it was karma? The first bunch I’d taken without permission but even after I’d gotten permission his roses just wouldn’t hold up.)

Rose painting attempt #2
Rose painting attempt #2
Dead Flowers Again!
Dead Flowers Again!
Categories
Art Flower Art Oil Painting Painting Rose Still Life

Spring Rose Series #1

“Spring Rose Series #1”, Oil on Linen Panel, 10x8”
“Spring Rose Series #1”, Oil on Linen Panel, 10×8”

My roses have started their spring parade of long stem blooms and I can’t resist painting them even though I’m allergic to their scent. This painting started a whole series that went from OK (this one) to 5 total fails (each painted on top of the previously scraped one), to one I declared successful, which I’ll post next time.

See photos of the setup and work in progress below. 

  • Setup, blue pastel drawing, paint drawing
  • Starting with the leaves
  • Flowers started, wiping off left rose to redo
  • Continuing with background
Categories
Art Oil Painting Painting Still Life

Silver Teapot and Happy Apple

"Silver Teapot and Happy Apple" Oil on oil-primed linen panel, 10x10”
“Silver Teapot and Happy Apple” Oil on oil-primed linen panel, 10×10”

This was my favorite oil painting experience ever. It was one of those paintings where everything just came together. Yay!

I painted it from life in two afternoons. I think what led to my success was that first I got the drawing right and then I just put the paint down and left it, doing very little touching up and/or correcting (aka overworking).

Below are a few photos of the setup and the beginnings of the work in progress.

  • Photo of setup and start
  • Getting the drawing right
  • Beginning to block in the dark values