Class has resumed for the new year. You can still join if you'd like; everyone works on their own project at the their own pace. I work on a demo each class. Started a new one for the new year, a water lily bud surrounded by the large leaves in a pond.
I started by placing the flower. If there were a tic-tac-toe board on the canvas, the bud would be placed at the lower left intersection of the lines. I made it a little bit larger than it appears in the photo. I then placed the leaves. I made them go out to and beyond the edge of the canvas. I wanted the plant to be the canvas, I was not interested in getting too much pond to show. I left a few out, made some larger, made some smaller - edited them to make a better painting. I even numbered them, treating this like a still life painting and making sure I have an odd number of items. It will also help when I go to paint each of them to keep track of the different leaves.
Remember, I am creating a painted based upon a photo, not painting a copy of the photo. I want the painting to be better than the photo.
Then I painted the background, the little bit of negative space around the leaves. I used a combination of Van Dyke brown and phtalo green. Any dark brown would work and I wanted a cool green, saving my warmer greens for the leaves. I mixed them as I went. Some areas are more brown, some more green... just like the surface of a real pond, it is not just one color. I kept the subtle variations. I blocked in the flower with an Indian yellow.
I am on vacation next week. Kate will sub for me. I will continue the demo on the 21st.
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