Accoutrements

Paintings are made up of lots of little details. We photographed this lantern in Santa Fe, a quaint accoutrement. First a mix of White + Ultramarine Blue is dragged over the wet paint of the door to indicate the glass.

Next the outer, wrought iron frame of the lantern is drawn with MUD (Ultramarine Blue + Alizarin Crimson) + Liquin. The upright on the back, seen through the glass, is made lighter.

Painting the top of the lantern, highlighting the glass and bracket adds the finishing details to this unique light fixture.

While the paint of the adobe building is wet it’s time to complete the trumpet vine cascading down the wall. My reference slide is projected into the rear screen beside my easel, making it easy to follow.

All the trailing vines, tendrils and twigs are drawn wet into wet with a fine liner brush. The flowers are a mix of Cadmium Orange with a bit of Alizarin Crimson added. The sunlit blossoms are Cadmium Orange + a little White. This dulls them just a touch. To make a brighter highlight I would add a little Cadmium Yellow Medium to the Cadmium Orange instead of the White. But in this case I want the Trumpet Vine to be softer, reserving the intense colors for the flowers below. Hugs, Mikki Senkarik

Website: www.senkarik.com