Peony. 2006

Acrylics on stretched canvas, 76 x 76cms

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Step 4

Step 5

Step 6

Final Step

Comments

Old canvas was used for new project - the flower peony. I always admire flowers - their amazing but short lasting beauty. I planned my painting in my head and decided to paint free hand without sketches.

Step 1 - shows covering the old painting with gesso.

Step 2 - I loosely applied a mixture of cadmium red and white to form the main shapes of flower.

Step 3 - building the shapes of the petals using stronger colours - red, crimson and raw sienna in the middle.

Step 4 - I believe that I should turn paintings upside down to check the balance of colours and shapes - almost with a new eye.

Step 5 - I added more details by building up the shapes of numerous petals.

Step 6 - developed background with the same colours. Final stage - finer details of petals and touched a number of them with raw sienna.

Colours appear to be diferent from stage to stage because I worked in natural light and took photos throughout the day - the light changes.