ACRYLIC PROJECT: Water Lily Week 3

This will be a combined description of what we did in class for the past couple weeks so there will not be a separate blog for the week I miss posting due to the Studio Tour.

The first thing we did after getting our background in was to under paint the lily pads. Please note that we are looking at the pads from the side so they are not round circles but ellipses. The shape of your pads and the direction you put the veins and ridges are critical  to show the viewer that the pads are laying on the top of the water. If the pads are too round or if you bring the ridges too straight into the center vein, your pads will look like they are standing on edge. The direction of your brush strokes is very important and they give your viewer a lot of information about the subject.

I under painted the pads with a combination of burnt sienna and purple, keeping the mix to the sienna side, it is a fairly dark mix. I was using a #10 bristle brush but you need to use a brush that fits the size of the canvas you are working on but as always, use a large enough brush so you can work quickly at this stage, save the small brushes for detail.

Theselily pads have – for lack of a better term – a sail at the back end that forms a kind of tented structure at the back end of the pad. I don’t know what they are for but they do add some interest to the pad so don’t overlook them in the process. We will detail them out as we finish out the pads around them in watercolor we call this negative painting. Also be aware that there are ridges or ruffles in the pads so when you are drawing or painting the edges, don’t make the edges smooth give them some ups and downs (look at the reference photo).I also want to point out that many of you got right up to where the flower sits and stopped or tried to paint in between where you think the petals might be, this can cause you some problems when you do get to the flower it is better to just continue to paint as if the flower wasn’t there, the flower will cover over what is there but you will have color in the places between petals otherwise it can look very cut and past when you are done.

The yellow lily pads that are under water can be under painted with a bit of yellow, orange and the mud on your brush, you should have a dark mustard color, this is perfect.

When the pads are dry, now you are going to scumble in some green tones into the pads. Always have your reference photo in front of you when you are painting, while you don’t have to be exact in your rendering of the subject, the photo has a lot of information you need to paint a believable representation of the subject. I say this because I want you to see the green in the pads. It is not a solid green it is more of a variegation between the reddish color and the green. Also be aware of the ridges and their angles, draw them in with your charcoal or chalk if you need to, this is important to make the pad look flat on the water.

Still using my #10 bristle brush I used a mix of sap green and a bit of yellow and dry brushed it on the pads following the ridges and dips of the pad (this is not a wall it has shape so follow the shape). Refer to the photo often to see where it is the brightest, don’t forget the “sail” at the back, if you want or need to, add some of that sienna and purple back in you want soft edges

between the colors so you can’t tell where one starts and the other stops. If you need to lighten the color a bit, if you still have some of the blue gray we used for the water, use little touches of that rather than white (gesso) it will lighten a little not a lot like the white can and the white can make it look chalky.

When you are painting the ridges and dips on the pad, keep in mind your brush strokes. I know I sound like a broken record but most of you still have a problem with this and then wonder why you can’t get the right look you are going for. Your strokes need to follow the shape of the thing you are painting, if it is a ridge that is standing up your strokes should be like an inverted “U” shape if it is the dip between your strokes need to be a regular “U” shape. The taller/longer and skinner the “U” stroke the taller or narrower the ridge of dip. Shorter and flatter strokes will make the ridge or dip look flatter. You can practice this with a paper and pencil so you understand what is going on when you get to your canvas, the same goes with the direction of the angle of the ridges: If they stick straight in to the center vein all the way down, the pad will look like it is standing on edge, again try it on paper first.

You can see the dry brush and
all the different layers.

When you get this first layer of green down it will probably dry darker than you’d expect and you will most likely have to go back over it with a bit lighter green. Use the same color with a bit more yellow in it (sap green and cad yellow lt) but don’t go over all your green, usually just hitting the high spots like the tops of ridges will give those ridges more form. Let the sides of the “sail” stay dark because they are in shadow. We have a bit more to do on the pads to get some final highlights and detail then we will get to the flower.

The shadows and the areas where the water comes up on the pads is next, these you can do as you go as they are integrated with each other around the edges of the pads. The shadow color is going to be ultramarine blue and a touch of purple and the highlight color is going to be the water color (white with blue and sienna to gray it), if you have any of the water color left, just add a bit of white to lighten it. I was using a #2 round sable for this because it is detail.

Again,look at your photo. I have my photo taped just above my painting and my eyes are constantly going back and forth between the two before I ever put brush to canvas, I want to know what I am doing and why. I want you to notice that around the pad where the water

touches the pad or comes onto the pad there is a very dark shadow cast from the water, also notice that it varies in size and sometimes disappears altogether depending on how much water is covering the edge of the pad. I don’t want to see a solid outline of the same width all around the edge of the pad, this will make it look like a cartoon when what we are trying to do is create some depth and body of the edge of the water.

On the front edge of the pads not only do you have the edge of the water but there is also the shadows cast from the ridges that stand above the water and the shadow cast from the “sail”. The darkest part of the shadow is what is deepest under the pad so start you dark color there and work out. Look at the photo so see the shapes of these shadows BEFORE you paint them.

Now that you have your shadows for the water, you need the highlights to give it some depth. Using the light gray color and the same brush wherever you have a shadow for your water, there will be a bit of a highlight. Skip a sliver of the water color just above the shadow and add your highlight. Keep your strokes flat because water is flat and keep looking at that photo it gives you the best information.

This is what we did the past couple weeks, try to be caught up to this point for class and learn to be observant of the world around you and you will become a better painter.