8 Refine the flowers
I started to refine the drawing on the flowers
using an almost pure Titanium White with
Lemon Yellow. I had to make sure that the
tones of the slightly darker flowers were
correct, while maintaining the contrast.
I became immersed in all the tiny nuances
of shape and colour in each patch of stems
and leaves. I like this stage; when I have
almost switched off my conscious thought
and become so absorbed in what I am doing
that it becomes a sort of meditation.
11 Gauge the temperature
By now I was several days into the painting
and I felt that the central group of flowers
needed more warmth. A very thin wash of
Burnt Sienna was applied over the now-dry
paint in certain areas, on top of which
I added carefully mixed lighter greys with
more Yellow Ochre.
I had planned to leave out the Heleniums
in the left-hand corner, but I now decided to
add some flowers and stems that were not in
the original photo yet served to better
balance the composition.
9 Let the sunshine in
The small patches of sunlight were so
important for the overall feel of the painting,
so I started to focus on getting them right,
mixing combinations of Burnt Sienna,
Titanium White, Naples Yellow, Naples Yellow
Light, Raw Umber and Davy’s Gray.
I needed to keep stepping back to see the
painting from a distance, as these shapes
really relied on an impressionistic feel to
work successfully. I used worn brushes again
to rub and press quite dry paint into these
areas to give the edges a soft-focus quality.10 Build up detail
Gradually building up the detail, I switched
between large and small brushes. I added
the centres of the flowers, the green middle
(Sap Green with Lemon Yellow) and outer
yellow-orange ring (Cadmium Yellow with
Burnt Sienna), which really pinned down the
whole composition somehow.
I tried to show the flower structure as
simply as possible, adding shadow shapes
and trying not to allow the brush marks to
become too tight. I’d like to think of the
paintings almost as a tapestry of marks, the
square-edged brushes giving them a distinct
shape as they weave and flow together.12 Finishing touches
The painting needed to dry for a further week before I could apply some glazes. I refined the
area of leaves, which felt a bit too flat, adding thin washes of dark green and then really light
bluey-green areas to further describe the complicated patterns.
As I paint on increasingly large canvases, it has become even more important to know when
to cease “tidying up”. The works inevitably become more about abstract factors of colour, form
and texture, rather than hyper-realistic detail. I hope I’ve managed to achieve something of
that feel in this painting.