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Author: carly_clements, Contributing Editor
| After all of the first layer is spritzed and painted into the tooth, I decided to add a touch of blue/green to the underpainting.
The image to the right shows the completed underpainting. Notice that many of the petals have been scrubbed over, too. Now I have a stronger pattern of dark and lights. I added some dots of color to the flower centers earlier since they will add to the sense of directing the eye thru the painting. |  |
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| In the image above, I show how to reshape an area. I spritz lightly in the area I want to reshape and using the brush, pull the wet pastel down and out, then lift the brush.
As you can see on the right, the petal shape has been changed and the center is lighter. The pastel which pools along the edge of the brush leaves a slightly darker area with more pastel pigment. Using this technique of "painting", I can reshape petals or pull out leaf shapes. You can also see that some of the charcoal line is still intact from my sketch. The alcohol tends to push the charcoal into the paper's tooth in the same way the pastel is pushed in. I didn't find that the charcoal presented a problem mixing with the pastels, but you could do your sketch with a NuPastel in one of your background colors. |
 | Time to paint without stopping to take photos! I'm looking for interesting shapes in the background and using spring colors to create the light butterflylike petals of the dogwood blossoms.
Although dogwoods appear white, I use no white in the painting. Warm yellows, soft blue/greens, golden ochres are massed onto the underpainting allowing it to show thru. I also watch to keep the values close to the underpainting. Adding some touches of a lighter blue give the effect of the sky peeking thru from the background. Branches are added bringing the limb of blossoms more into focus and out of the background. |
 | After about an hour of painting, it's time to ask myself some questions. Have I kept my focal area interesting? Do I have an interesting path for the eye? Are there too many stars on the stage? Is the temperature of the painting too cool or too warm? Is there harmony with the color?
I'm constantly thinking about these things as I paint, but its good to take a step back at times for a more objective look. I also don't want to overwork this painting - the fresh abstract representational appeal of the dogwood blooms is what stirred my imagination to begin with and I don't want to lose that. |
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