Fearless Friday, White Flowers
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After living at the beach for 4 1/2 months,
I was excited to return to the “city” and my studio space
for the month of August
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I did fall in love with watercolor during the past few months
and wondered if I would feel rusty
painting on larger surfaces with acrylic…
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I couldn’t wait to get started!
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I use a large wet palette box
when I plan to paint over the course of several days
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It has a large thin sponge in the bottom of the palette box
You saturate the sponge with water,
lay it inside the palette box
and top it with a sheet of palette paper
The paper absorbs moisture from the sponge
and keeps the acrylic from drying
When you’re finishing painting for the day,
snap the lid on and your paint will stay moist for days
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I usually lay out my colors in the same order,
Titanium white in the top left corner,
with Titan Buff directly underneath
Then from top left Cad Yellow Light, Cad Yellow Medium,
normally I would place several reds next
but this time I proceeded with Ultramarine Blue,
and Cerulean Blue,
knowing I would need them for mixing greens
I save the bottom row and lower left side for premixed colors
or “cheater’s colors*” in this case lime green, Hooker’s Green
Permanent Rose, Cad Orange and Bright Red
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To the left of my palette is a towel and container of clean water
A spray bottle of water is used moisten the paint on the palette
Okay, let’s paint!
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I used a black canvas I purchased earlier this year
and began by indicating the 2 large flowers
I wanted to be the focal point of the painting
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Next I filled in the rest of the composition
with scattered blooms of different sizes
using several photos for inspiration
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If you look a white objects carefully
you will see many different colors
that are created by shadows and reflected light
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Next I began adding greens
I also realized that the black canvas looked dull and flat,
much different than if I had painted it black myself,
so I decided to give it some depth
with subtle touches of blue
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I continued to fill in with more shades of green
filling out the flowers with subtle shades of peach and pink,
and yellow for the centers
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To finish the main flowers and to make them really stand out
I added thick strokes of white, mixed with soft gel
to extend the volume of the paint
Soft Gel medium can be mixed into any color
to increase the volume of the paint without distorting the color
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This is my palette near the end of this painting
You can see the various mixes of greens a
nd how I borrowed a touch of pink and orange
to mix into the white and buff
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I applied the final strokes
of white paint mixed with soft gel medium and touches of color,
with quick strokes of a palette knife
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“White Flowers” 18″ x 24″ acrylic on stretched canvas
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Try painting a subject freely,
with fast loose strokes,
creating an abstract impression
is a wonderful way to have fun with painting…
So have fun and Be Fearless!
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Juicy Details
note: sometimes I just use the palette paper without the sponge and box if I am going to paint for just one session. If you keep your paint moist with an occasional spritz from a water spray bottle, you can work for several hours then toss the paper away when you’re finished
Masterson Sta-Wet Palette Box {the one I use} available on Amazon here
12″ x 16″ Palette paper available on Amazon here
Sta Wet palette box with paper set available on Amazon here
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🎨 🌺 🎨
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I will be joining these fabulous parties and blogs:
Meal Plan Monday Love Your Creativity Over the Moon
Between Naps on the Porch, Celebrate Your Story,
All About Home/ Common Ground Follow the Yellow Brick Home
Make it Pretty Monday Tasty Tuesday Oh My Heartsie Girl
Turn About Tuesday Full Plate Thursday Centerpiece Wednesday
Thursday Favorite Things Creatively Crafty Creative Cumpulsions
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Gorgeous flowers! I like how you used blue to give depth to the black background.
Thank you Ann!
Jenna, I love these beautiful flowers. The black canvas makes them so striking. Enjoy your day and weekend!
Thanks Pam, I love to paint on black, it adds so much drama!
I love how the black canvas makes your flowers pop Jenna! Happy Painting and Friday! ♥
Thank you Mary, I hope you have a wonderful weekend, we are biting fingernails as we watch the tropical storms in the gulf 😬
Lovely flowers, Jenna and I really enjoyed reading about your process….Lucky you, for spending the summer at the beach!!! Oh and also, btw, I have that EXACT same sta-wet pallette! The bigger the better and because I am a slow-poke, I have also discovered that it is possible to keep the paint viable on there for up to THREE WEEKS by putting it in the refrigerator at night!!! Haha, you probably don’t need to know THAT, I bet your paintings get done in a couple of days! 🙂
Thank you Hilda! Listen to this, when I opened my palette to set up for this painting it was still wet from early March!!! The leftover paint was still pliable but omg there was mold everywhere, it was gross! So from now on I am going to make sure to toss the paper and dry out the sponge…when I left for the beach in mid March I was only planning to be gone for 2 weeks, ha, 2 weeks lasted 4 1/2 months! Happy painting!
Haha! Yes, mold can be a big problem! The sponge part on mine is stained black because of this kind of thing and nothing will take it out – well, maybe I could bleach it??? but it’s just a stain. Like you, I do have rather a habit of leaving it and forgetting about it after a point, so I know EXACTLY what you are talking about!!
You can buy a new sponge on Amazon, which I am definitely going to do and get rid of my nasty one!
As a non-artist, I looked at the first sight of your empty canvas and thought, “Wow! How would I begin with that large space staring at me?!” It is such a joy to watch your creative process, Jenna. It has to be frustrating to be in the middle of your process and have to stop to take a picture, but I am so grateful you are kind enough to do so. I am fascinated by all the steps that come together to create such a lovely piece of artwork. The colors of your flowers and the way that you’ve layered the paint makes the flowers look so real. Thank you for sharing your talent with us. It’s a wonderful way to start a Friday morning. Especially in these difficult times.
Thank you so so much Rosie, you are always so sweet and I really appreciate your support and encouragement! It is my pleasure to share the joy I find in painting, and I tend to work too fast so photographing makes me stop and think a bit!
This is so beautiful! Thank you again for sharing your process with all of us.
I’ve never seen one of these palette boxes before. How interesting. I don’t wok in acrylic much anymore but I think I need to pass this info on to a few!
Thanks Jeanie, I was in heaven back with my favorite acrylics, but I do love the ease and portability of watercolor, if fact I think I will go paint one!
The black background makes them stand out! A perfect pop!
Happy day to you!
Thanks Nancy!!
Beautiful, Jenna!! 🌸😊
Love your floral paintings!
thanks Patty Anne, it is wonderful to paint with acrylics again!
So pretty! And greens are so tricky to mix. They are for me, at least! ;P
Greens are tricky, I took a class one time totally on mixing greens! Thanks it felt great to be back playing with acrylic again!
So beautiful!
Thank you!
That is absolutely gorgeous, Jenna! I’ve featured it at TFT today!
Thank you so much Pam!