64 Artists Magazine May 2020
Reference Photo^
The floral still life setup
features a lot of items.
The peonies are past their
prime, but I like the droop
of their heads. At this point,
I’m not sure how much of
this information will appear
in the final painting.1 While looking primarily
at the still life and not the
paper, I make free-flowing
gestural marks in my first
sketch. I love the feel of
the graphite pulling across
the gessoed paper. I like
using Golden gesso for
its smoothness.Blooming Wild
2 I’vegotquitea bitofa foundationgoing,usingwater-
colorsticksandwater-solublegraphitelayeredwith
paint.I addplentyofyellowsanda dilutedcadmium
redlighttogivewarmthtotheunderpainting.I’vealso
turnedthepapersideways.3 I determine that my main focus will be the peonies in the
vase; I’m not going to include the rest of the still life items.
I add deeper values to create a feeling of depth, and I start
painting the flowers. Notice that I’ve turned the painting
180 degrees.“I’ve always loved a good mystery, and painting this way is,
in a sense, like being inside the mystery.”
—CAROLYN MARSHALL WRIGHT