this week i wanted to paint a flower i don’t paint very often : foxgloves. The last time i painted them was… three years ago. So it will be very interesting to see how my interpretation of this flower has change with time !
Left, my reference image for this week’s painting. Right, the painting i did of foxgloves 3 years ago. And i have to say that this little old painting is quite a success ! Maybe the colors on the flowers itself is a bit to bright (i used opera pink from Daniel Smith which is almost fluorescent), but there is a lot of delicacy and poetry in this picture !
My goal for this painting is simply to take my time, enjoy the process and look for the big shapes, important shadows and colors. This kind of flower like peonies, roses, foxgloves and many more are difficult to paint. Either because their is a lot of petals, or lots of shadows or they overlap each other or a bit of all of this. So i need to simplify shapes to make my work easier. That’s why taking time to paint in no rush taking the time to look at the picture is very important here. You’ll be able to add details later, especially if the general form is right.
Painting foxgloves in video
Supplies :
Brushes : Escoda Último nº18, Escoda Último nº8 rigger.
Paper : Arches hot pressed.
Colors : Ultramarine blue (Sennelier), Amazonite genuine (Daniel Smith), Nickel azo yellow (Daniel Smith), Rose madder lake (Sennelier), Lunar blue (Daniel Smith).
And here you have the finished painting (click to enlarge) :
