38 Artists Magazine May 2020
Build ART HACKS
Bloom Basics Quartet
● Perfectionism is no friend to realism. Avoid lines that are so
straight and shapes that are so symmetrical that they don’t
look organic.
● You may not paint each of them, but keep all of a flower’s
parts in mind—stems, leaves, and inner and outer petals.
● Flowers come in different states, from closed or half-
opened buds to full blooms. Paint them all!
● Your viewpoint can dramatically impact the look of a fl ower.
For example, a rose seen in profi le or from the side has
a much diff erent appearance from one seen head on.Flowers in a Vase
When painting flowers in
a vessel, DO ...
... include flowers of different
heights.
... add texture and variety with
more than one kind of flower.
... keep your light source fixed
so that highlights and shadow
shapes will remain consistent
as you paint.
... include greenery—leaves,
stems and foliage.
... experiment with your horizon
line; it can completely change
the look and feel of your work.Photo Finish
If you take photos to refer to when your fl owers start to wilt, be
aware of any color bias seen through your lens. When color
correcting with photo-editing software, focus on making the
whites pop (use an eyedropper tool) and raising the saturation.Language of Layers
Flowers such as poppies and
anemones often have two layers
of petals. Use different values and
intensities to replicate the tiers.Lacking Depth?
If the flowers you’ve created seem flattened or appear to be
in too shallow a space, consider whether you’ve addressed
your shadows. Negative space can also help create the
illusion of depth.Petal to Stem
Here’s a cheat sheet for painting spring blossoms.
—COURTNEY JORDANIMPASTO FLOWERS: EUGENESERGEEV/GETTY IMAGES; WATERCOLORBOUQUET:ALKIR/GETTYIMAGES;PURPLE ANEMONE:NURANVECTORGIRL/GETTY IMAGES; MAGENTA AND ORANGE FLOWERS: IULIIA_ZUBKOVA/GETTY IMAGES
READERHACK
“I use an empty egg carton
as a brush holder. It keeps
the wet brushes separated
and within easy reach.”
—laurel cheffFor a chance to win a month of free access to
Artists Network TV, email your favorite art hack to
[email protected] with this subject line:
“Art Hacks.” Submissions chosen for publication may
be edited for length and clarity.3 Success Factors
Color: Including light, middle and dark tones makes your
flowers pop and gives them dimensionality.
Size: Incorporate small shapes, mid-sized forms and large
objects to keep your composition visually engaging.
Shape: Embrace all the ways your brush can make marks,
from thick to thin, simple to complex and straight to curved.Color Choreography
● A high-key color palette is a floral
painter’s delight. Start with rose
madder, cobalt blue and aureolin
for transparent colors with
limited potential for clashing.
● Use two sets of primary colors for
lots of bright mixture possibilities. Reach
for a warm red, a cool blue-red, a warm and
a cool blue, and a warm and a cool yellow.
● To knock back your brights, use burnt
sienna. It lowers the intensity of a hue
without overly impacting color.
● Avoid mixing a warm yellow with a warm blue, and your
greens will glow. For an olive green, try new gamboge and
cobalt blue; for a more vibrant green, combine phthalo
blue and aureolin.
● Overmixing colors can dull them. You want to see a bit of
the starting colors as you apply the mixture.
● Mix a black that’s all your own with raw sepia, indigo or the
three primaries.
● For white, consider a heavily diluted tint of a color so that
the application isn’t stark. The white of your surface can
also be key to glowing, dewy flowers—and transparent
colors let your surface’s brightness shine through.