Bluebell Painting

Time for a catch up again.

My last flower painting is one of bluebells, that I started on 8 May so getting on for a month or so ago.

I found a photo on Flickr that I really liked and thought I'd have a go at painting it, especially as it's bluebell season round here just now.  I mean, have a look at these photos I took while running through a bluebell wood just the other day - I had no idea they were there and they sort of ambushed me as I ran round a corner; I just HAD to stop and take some photos!





So, as usual, I taped a piece of A4 sized acrylic paper to the board on my easel, masking-taped off the margins and attached the photo I was to copy above it:



I then decided on a shade of light green to cover the whole surface:



Then, using my trusty stencil brushes, started scumble glazing in the background colours.  I then drew out the shape of the focal point flowers, and painted them in white:



I added more background colours, more blues and pinks, and started painting pale green on the stalk:



Then started working on the flowers themselves:



Until I was happy with them:





Added light and shading, including on the stalk:



And here's the finished painting, with the masking tape removed and edges tidied, taken on 12 May:



I decided I needed a bit of a break from painting flowers for the moment, so looked for something else to paint instead, finally deciding on a photo I took during the snowy winter of, I think, 2009, which I'll show you in my next posting.