This week i wanted to go back to a subject i tried almost two years ago : winter hellebores.
I studied this subject with watercolor pencils. And even i was very pleased with the result i never went back to do a proper painting on this same subject. The work was half done thanks to the study : i did know what i wanted for the composition and for the colors. And my first idea of getting very luminous yellow flowers against a dark background was the right way to go for this painting !
The strong contrats between the flowers and the background is in itself very intersting. But i wanted to push myself a little bit further by adding quite a lot of texture in the background. First with even darker color and a dagger brush and then by removing some of this dark colors with a flat stiff brush. It’s an easy way to create texture on a dark background but keep in mind that you have to keep your brush fairly clean for this technique !
Painting winter hellebores in video
Supplies :
Brushs : Princeton Neptune nº8, Rosemary & Co série 39 1/2″, Rosemary & Co Éclipse flat nº6.
Paper : Arches rough.
Colors : Nickel azo yellow (Daniel Smith), Indigo (Isaro), Dark violet (Isaro), Transparent red oxide (Daniel Smith).
And here you have the finished painting (click to enlarge) :
