This morning was spent with two lovely ladies and talented artists painting in a semi-private lesson. One of the artist had already painted a piece using a reference photo of white flowers and green apples, but the other artist wanted to try her hand at it. I suggested we paint it in a fresh, new way so that the first artist would learn something new and also have a slightly different painting.
Her first painting is lovely, and it sold immediately.
So we varied our process and started the new version with a cad red under-painting and neutral block-in. I suggested she hold her brush like a baton and paint very loosely.
And I love the results, especially the additional warmth from the red under-painting peeking through.
Artist #2 painted similarly, but with a bit of deconstructing at the end to loosen up some edges and then a simple finger-painting stroke or two of peach to pull in color from other places in the painting.
And I love the way this one turned out, too.
Many times I will paint several paintings using the same reference material. I learn something new each time I paint, and many times want to paint the subject again to incorporate a different approach. And if you are a painter, allow me to encourage you to paint the same reference a few times incorporating a different process, palette, or brush strokes and simply experiment. You won't regret it. And you might learn something.
Great job ladies!!
