Acrylic Project: TJ’s Bouquet Final

At some point you have to call a painting done and that is where I am on this project. The last class I worked on finishing details so there was much instruction because my painting is different from each of yours and I have different ideas of how I want it finished. This is a decision each of you will make on your paintings so it will fill your needs.

When I am looking to finish a painting one of the things I look for is where I can add contrast first and then add color. It is the contrast between dark and light that will “punch up” a painting. I also look to see that I have everything finished, it is easy to get focused on one area and leave other areas to die on the vine so be sure you look to see that all the elements of your painting are at the level they need to be where they are in the painting.

Using my small sable flat brush I went back in to my small yellow flowers and added the red edges pulling the color from the edge to the base lightly and using a bit of yellow to help me blend. These are very light touches to gently blend the colors not mash them together. You want to be able to see both.

I used this same technique of lightly blending colors to add some highlights and transparencies to the roses. Using my gesso for white and my cad red I lightly blended select areas so they looked more transparent or reflected light. Mixing white and red will give you pink and I didn’t want that so I took my time lightly blending. Practice this before you work on your flowers.

I also added a bit of reflected light near the top of the bouquet on the area that would be the wall much like what I did on the surface it is sitting on, this gives a bit more to the “glow” around the flowers. I used a mix or blue, purple and a touch of white but if your background is a different color from mine be sure to use those colors only just a touch lighter.

Adding a bit of the complimentary color to a painting is also a good thing. Since there is a lot of yellow in this painting I mixed a color for the reflected light in the shadow areas of blue, purple with a touch of sienna to slightly grey it and a touch of gesso to slightly lighten it and added this color to some of my shadowed leaves, dark sides of the roses and to the top of the basket behind the overlapping leaves. Little touches of purple will bring life to you painting as long as you understand the term “little touches”.

Before

Lastly and only because I really wanted to see how it would look, I took what I call my magic color which is Quinacridone Gold with a little touch of gesso and using my bristle brush and a lot of water, lightly glazed the surface mostly around the bouquet fading the glaze just beyond the flowers to the existing dark. You do not need to do this! Let me repeat: YOU DO NOT NEED TO DO THIS!!! I just wanted to see what it would look like so I could show you alternatives to finishing your painting, if you want to try it fine but if you like your painting the way it is, please just leave it alone, it is your painting and if you like it that is all that matters.

After

We have 3 more weeks before the end of the semester so I hope you find something you want to paint, I will help you get started and do demos as needed. Keep painting and I will see you in class.