PAINT-A-LONG: Still life on a black background.

[Virginia (vmrs) Administrator]

That looks great! I think you’re right about the line too. Mine looks a little empty on the side, I’m thinking I might go back and put it in.

Here’s some closeups.

The leaves, I used a dark green (olive) a leaf green, Naples yellow mixed with white for blending and a little bit of orange on the edges because I like how it looks with the blue shades.

A close up of the tulips which have an orange, yellow and red base with a green shadow It’s so hard to get a photo of whites!

And the whole thing.

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[Terranova]

Wow, your works look so great! Thanks for showing.

Virginia: if you don’t make a drawing before you paint and with having the black lines from the background, does that mean, that you mainly work with negative painting when doing a work like this?

Thanks for info
Gaby

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C&C welcome! Want to learn...

[Charlies Mum Administrator (Maureen)]

Susan, I do like the way this is growing, it really does look good and again, you are right about marking the Golden Section.

Virginia – I like the retention of the black outlines … when I”ve used outlines they”ve usually been added. These have more life. An exciting painting.

I’m no further with mine … tomorrow, paint!!

Cheers, Maureen

Forum projects: Plant Parade projects in the Florals/Botanicals forum , WDE in the All Media Art Events , Different Strokes in Acrylics forum .

[Virginia (vmrs) Administrator]

Thanks Gaby. When I paint a background I paint around an object as opposed to painting an object on top of the background. Of course sometimes I lose my objects and have to repaint them. I just like the way it looks.

It sounds hard not having a sketch on the canvas but since I mostly paint houses or barn or whathaveyou, the objects are really only a square or rectangle with foliage.
I like the way the white charcoal lines looked in this though, so I left some of them in on purpose and am going to seal the painting so I don’t accidentally brush them off.

Thanks CM!

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[susme48]

Thank you again, Virginia and Maureen…:)

Virginia…I really like yours! :thumbsup: You made a lot more use of the black bg than I did…:lol: for me it might work better with a ‘darker’ piece where I really wanted lots of darks? I thought of a number of ways to ‘make’ it a darker piece, but decided after some messing about that I wasn’t going that direction this time. Maybe I’ll do another one…who knows…:eek:

Continuing with the same colors, I just refined (is that the right word?) the leaves and flowers more, and did a bit more shading on the vase. Decided that for now, I did not like the design on it…so will ponder leaving that out. Artistic license and all that…:lol:

I guess you would call it glazing, in a way…tho’ I never really call it that unless I use a glazing medium…:) I just used mostly light watered coats on the flowers, and kind of mixed the greens on the canvas as I went, keeping things well-spritzed with water to be able to keep blending.

Now I am at the point of deciding how much more ‘realistic’ I want to get…I COULD get real picky with the leaves and petals, but since my style seems to be a cross between impressionism and realism…this may be about it, except for some added ‘light’.

[FONT="Impact"]♥ [FONT="Lucida Sans Unicode"]§usan [FONT="Impact"]♫

"Painting is silent poetry, and poetry is painting with the gift of speech." ~Simonides
"Who said one paints with colors? One employs colors, but one paints with feeling."
~Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin
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Susan's Soul________ Blog_______ Yessy

[Virginia (vmrs) Administrator]

Nice highlights on the vase! Lovely shades in the whites and greens too. You did a fantastic job of this Susan!! Bravo!

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[stee71]

Wow 2 beauties of very different styles, Virginia that black outline effect is reminiscent of a wood or lino cut and Susan the directional brushwork passing behind the flowers really helps push them forward in space.

Ok I have started mine by first trowelling on some black paint over the black gesso so it had a nice shiny and slick surface….sometimes I like grippy surfaces but today I wanted slippy.

I’ve gone for the ‘paint direct’ without a drawing approach but I’m finding it much harder on flowers than with landscape (where proportion isn’t as crucial)
Also my yellow greens aren’t opaque enough, so I think this will need 2 coats to achieve the brightness grrrrr

I think I’m going to make full use of the black ground to maximize contrast and leave the bg very dark. Life has got in the way tonight so I may have to finish up tomorrow.

I’m beginning to remember why I never paint flowers, :confused: they’re tougher than they look.

Please excuse my English - it is my first language and therefore i abuse it outrageously

[susme48]

Thanks Virginia!

Now that I am almost done, I wish I had not been so fast…:lol: As I watch the paint continue to dry, I am watching it get darker as well…:lol: I assume (even tho’ they tell you not to assume…) that part is the black underneath, and part is color shift as I was a ‘bad’ girl and did use a few student grade paints (only the better ones…I have some real cheap paints that SAY they are artist grade…but I don’t think so…:lol: They are ok for studies and bgs)

So I wil probably redo the highlights…

[FONT="Impact"]♥ [FONT="Lucida Sans Unicode"]§usan [FONT="Impact"]♫

"Painting is silent poetry, and poetry is painting with the gift of speech." ~Simonides
"Who said one paints with colors? One employs colors, but one paints with feeling."
~Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin
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Susan's Soul________ Blog_______ Yessy

[susme48]

Steve…I think we cross-posted! Thanks, I was hoping that the bg would add depth, but was not sure…:lol:

I like to paint direct w/out sketching as well, but have found that florals are almost as unforgiving as portraits…sigh. I did not put much into the sketching…just thru’ a grid onto the ref photo, and tried to stay proportional.

I like how yours turned out with the dark bg…really nice!! Peeked around at some of your other work…you do great pastel work!!

[FONT="Impact"]♥ [FONT="Lucida Sans Unicode"]§usan [FONT="Impact"]♫

"Painting is silent poetry, and poetry is painting with the gift of speech." ~Simonides
"Who said one paints with colors? One employs colors, but one paints with feeling."
~Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin
[/CENTER]

Susan's Soul________ Blog_______ Yessy

[Violetta]

My goodness, a lot of painting has already been done. Some of you really paint fast.

Virginia, I really like the abstract/stylistic quality the black outline gives yours. Very attractive!

Susan, yours is coming along really well. I love that shade of blue you achieved and your background has a lot of depth to it. Nice!

Stee, you are off to a good start. Bravo for not drawing first! That’s quite a challenge.

I have my black base coat done and my 9 x 12 board is drying. I have a busy day tomorrow but I will try to get the vase and tulips started.

[FONT=Arial]Judy
"I paint flowers so they will not die." Frieda Kahlo
"Another word for creativity is courage." Matisse
“If you’re not prepared to be wrong you’ll never come up with something original.” Sir Ken Robinson’s TED talk.

[AprilJoy]

Judy, you’re right- every is jumping right in, I feel like a slacker & my bg was finished back when Maureen told me to get it ready in the last p.a.l. thread

Stee- that looks really cool the way it is, like the vase is in moonlight.
Susan, it looks really good, your bg looks like a corner to me, I like it!
Virginia- I like the way you left the right corner & some places behind the tulips open.

Guess I better get myself in gear!

[FONT="Impact"]FuzzyNacho
[FONT="Arial"]"No great artist ever sees things as they really are. If he did, he would cease to be an artist."
Oscar Wilde

[ColinS, Moderator, Victoria British Columbia]

Wait up! I had to buy a water soluble white pencil so I could work on the drawing.

Everyone’s is looking great. I hope I can do justice to the black background. I am thinking of leaving much of it dark, like Stee has done.

Susan yours is coming along well, and Virginia yours makes me think of leaded glass windows.

"None are so old as those who have outlived enthusiasm." - Henry David Thoreau

Moderator Acrylics Forum~~~Reference Image Library

[ColinS, Moderator, Victoria British Columbia]

Here is my beginning:

Sorry the canvasboard sits at an angle on the easel so it’s not ‘square’ in the photo.

"None are so old as those who have outlived enthusiasm." - Henry David Thoreau

Moderator Acrylics Forum~~~Reference Image Library

[Virginia (vmrs) Administrator]

Stee, that looks fantastic, I really like the dark bg, it does look like a moonlit painting.
Great start Colin! Your vase handle looks very graceful. Your shading is looking good too.
Susan it will tend to get darker as it dries, they always do a bit. I tend to paint in one go then go back the next day to re highlight if need be.

I do use different kinds of paints depending, some of the student grades are pretty liquidy which sometimes I like. As long as you know how that particular kind of paint works for you and can manipulate it to do what you want, then it’s all good. The biggest problems with student paints is some tend to dry chalky or dull, I once used one brand that flaked right off! Boy was I mad at myself.

I think a lot of people are at the point where they’re realizing how much the black background affects the paint, the colors etc. Hopefully this helps anyone who’s learning realize how painting on a white background also affects your colors. On a black bg, it’s just really obvious.
Now of course you don’t need to paint on a super dark background but the next time you have a pure white canvas in front of you, try a sepia tone, or a light yellow or even an orange or red or blue. You’ll be amazed at the changes it can make in a painting.

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[pastel65]

Question? I may try this – first time trying a paint-a-long – is it expected that the finale picture shows a black background or just that you started with a black canvas? Thanks Pam

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