041017 S 24x30 Morning Glories, Hollyhocks, and Poppies by the Creek, PART THREE

This is PART THREE of a three part blog about the creations for a recent commission project.  This is the second of two paintings I created for the project.  You can see the design process in the PART ONE blog. You can see the first painting HERE in PART TWO.   

To summarize, Beth and Andy wanted a flower scene with lots of purple:  blue-purples, red-violets, blues.  The water needed to be a darker cobalt blue, not a turquoise or cerulean blue.  They liked certain elements in various paintings that they saw in my studio/gallery during a visit.  So I took notes and then pulled out the paintings and/or printouts of what they liked.  

I started with a sketch that includes writing out what I what where and what colors and flowers I want to emphasize.

Then I sketch out the idea on a prepared panel using a brush dipped in cold pressed linseed oil and magenta mixed with cerulean blue pigment.  

I mix up a dark value using Cadmium Red Medium and Ultramarine Blue and use that on the edges of the creek.  I mix up a dark green for the background trees using Ultra Blue, Cadmium Yellow Light, and a touch of Cad. Red Med. and/or Primary Red-Magenta.  

I use Ultramarine Blue with a touch of Titanium White for the water in the creek. I also add in some dark, rusty ochers in the water where the earth and rocks underneath color the water. I start painting in the morning glories with dark purples mixed from various combinations of Ultra. Blue or Cerulean Blue with Magenta gradually adding lighter values mixed with white. 

The green foliage in the middle ground space is mixed using primarily Cerulean Blue(a warmer blue than Ultramarine) and Cadmium Yellow Light.  More blue is used in the background greens to help the space recede.  Magenta and Cadmium Red are also mixed in sparingly for shadows and dips in the topography.

More dark background foliage in the trees is added.  Leaves are added to the Morning Glories.

The sky, mixed with Cerulean Blue and Titanium White, is popped in the negative space around the trees.

Bright zinnias are added to the background, dancing across the trees.  The zinnias are mixed from various combinations of magenta, cadmium red, yellow, and blue.  Bright poppies from pure Cadmium Red Medium and Light are added to their complementary color, green.  Using complementary colors next to each other cause them to vibrate optically and create visual excitement.

More flowers are added throughout the painting.  A pale violet color is mixed using lots white with purple.  Yellow is used sparingly.  Hollyhocks are painted in.  Goldfish are added to the creek and a waterfall is painted in.  Final details are added to the foreground flowers.  And the final painting(below):

"Morning Glories, Hollyhocks, and Poppies by the Creek", Code #031017 24x30, oil on panel, 24" x 30", c. 2017, by Charlene Marsh. SOLD

And so which painting did Andy and Beth select?  While they loved both paintings, they selected this one, the second one!  I thought they might because it made the purples and blue-purples the stars of the painting more than the first one(which is fabulous in it's own right).
 

You can see the design process in PART ONE and the creation of the first painting in PART TWO.  

Thanks for following along.

Happy Trails!

Cheers,

Charlene