Recently one of my good friends, also an artist,
sent me this photo from a Martha Stewart DIY
It’s a painted canvas with faux flowers added to make it 3 dimensional
“You should do this!” she suggested…
I couldn’t wait to get started!!
I looked at a lot of flower photos on Pinterest
and used a various combination of elements I liked for my composition
Since most of my flowers were going to be in yellow and orange tones,
I decided to do a purple underpainting,
purple being the compliment to yellow {opposite on the color wheel}
I have never done a purple underpainting before,
I usually do black or red…
For now let’s just say I will never use purple again,
I’ll explain as we go along…
I decided to put a large vase of blooms on the left side
and have the flowers spill out across the canvas
I used a limited palette,
Titanium white, Cad yellow Medium, Cad Red Medium,
Cerulean Blue, Ultramarine Blue, and Phthalo Blue, Dioxazine Purple
The various blues and purple mixed with yellow can create a variety of greens
Using a limited palette also helps keep the painting in harmony
I painted the background in over the purple and started adding blooms
Compare the two canvases below
As the paint dried the purple re-emerged!
I lost track of how many times I painted over that purple
trying to get a soft yellow/off white background
and a ochre foreground
Next came the vase, leaves and stems
I added more color and petals to the blooms
Finally, I got so frustrated with the purple
I used a palette knife and mixed the paint with heavy gel medium
and applied a thick layer of paint over the reappearing purple areas
Heavy gel is a great medium to give dimension to the paint application
and it helps extend paint when you’re using a palette knife
Below is the finished painting
The pesky purple is still peeking through a little!
I used a hot glue gun to secure the faux blooms
I positioned them to look like they were naturally drooping out of the vase
“In Full Bloom” 16″ x 20″ acrylic on canvas
You can see the Martha Stewart tutorial here,
they used an inexpensive painting from Amazon here
You could also buy a painting at Target
or Hobby Lobby {use the 40% off coupon!}
They also cut a slit in the canvas to insert the stems
I don’t recommend cutting your canvas because it could sag and gap
I hope you try this,
whether you paint a canvas or use one that’s already painted
it’s a really fun project!!
{psst, don’t underpaint with dioxazine purple! 😱}
Be Fearless!
🎨 🌺 🎨
I will be joining these fabulous parties and blogs:
Meal Plan Monday Love Your Creativity What’s for Dinner?
Between Naps on the Porch, Make it Pretty Monday
Turn About Tuesday Celebrate Your Story, You’re the Star
All About Home/ Common Ground Follow the Yellow Brick Home
Tasty Tuesday Oh My Heartsie Girl Full Plate Thursday