We went to Jamaica recently and we got some GORGEOUS photos of these flowers, hence my inspiration for painting them!
I love painting white flowers b/c they aren't really white if you examine them closely. All white flowers have many subtle hints of color in them. Purples, blues, yellows and pinks.
Color list:
Violet, Hooker's Green, Windsor Yellow, Yellow Ochre, French Ultramarine Blue, Ceruleo, Burnt Sienna, Burnt Umber, Van Dyke Brown
After sketching out the initial shape of the flowers, I started with the centers and shadows in the petals.
Paint your centers first and allow them to dry before you start on the petal shadows. Start with your lightest yellow and deepen from there. Paint the shadow shapes by wetting the entire shadow area and washing on the desired color wet on wet. I also put a cool yellow on all of the buds and leaves as a base color in preparation for the next wash of green.
Here, I'm starting to work on the buds, layering on a mixture of Hooker's, Burnt Sienna and a cool yellow. I think that I did deepen the colors in the flower centers again to add depth.
I'm starting the washes on the leaves behind the flowers, wet on wet. The little buds took a long time to do b/c of the sun and shadow on them. They will need a few more washes to acquire the depth of color that I desire.
Another wash on the leaves. Notice how the first wash was all over and in the next wash, I left the sun and shadow shapes on the leaves. After this dries at the very end, I will soften the edges of these shapes with a clean brush and clean water to give it that sun glow.
This is the first wash into the background...very wet and loose. You have to work very quickly when adding a large background wash. I did use ox gall to keep the page wetter, longer. Even so, I did get a lot of jagged edges on the white flowers. I worked from the bottom right corner up, changing colors as needed. Make sure that every wash is completely dry before you start another wash. You can cheat and use a blow dryer if it doesn't blow the pigment around too much.
Wash 2 onto the background. Notice how every background wash makes the white flowers pop forward more dramatically.
Background Wash 3...Still not dark enough. I did do some more deepening of the shadows on the leaves and I brightened up the edges of the buds with a cool yellow....I'm sorry that I cannot remember the name of the cool yellow that I'm using here.
Background wash 4 - I'm pretty happy with this wash. I'm getting close to the end. Take a clean brush and clean water and scrub out any ragged edges that you have around the white flowers petals. Soften out your sun spots and shadows on the leaves and dab lightly with a tissue. Make sure that your painting is completely dry before you start this softening process. Also, soften the edges of the colored shadows on the petals to make your painting glow.
This kind of gives you some perspective on the size of the painting. Notice how the dark background really makes the flowers pop forwards, giving the art an almost 3-D effect.
Here's a close up of the finished product. Soften out interesting shapes and light spots into your background.
I hope you've enjoyed learning how to paint Frangipanis! I'd love to hear from you, so drop me a note if you'd like.
Cady@ArtByCady.com
Or visit my website at www.ArtByCady.com
Happy Painting!
Just wow
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