A Blaze of Red

It’s time to finish out the garden. Permanent Rose + White is used for the pink Hollyhocks. It makes a crisp, bright hue perfect for these happy flowers. A little Magenta is added for the darkest shade. The greens for the foliage are mixes of Pthalo Blue + Hansa Lemon Yellow. The Cadmium Yellow mixes are for the cheery Black Eyed Susans.

I paint the flowers “forward”. The blossoms are blocked in starting with the group of Hollyhocks nearest the door. The yellows are painted next, followed by the Hollies in the foreground.

The foliage is now painted following the same back to front sequence. Since I put the Lavender in previously, I have to carefully paint the greens around the purple blossoms. In a perfect world I would have blocked the Lavender in at the same time as the rest of the flowers in this bed. However I had the colors out when I painted the Lavender by the bench so I worked on these at the same time.

Adding the centers begins to define the individual flowers.

The highlights on the petals of the Black Eyed Susans are “Laid” on the canvas using the corner of a Bright brush. I like the extra texture and dimension the thick paint adds.

Seed pods finish out the Hollyhocks. A #2 Filbert brush is just right for applying the heavy paint of the round pods.

Some of the Hollyhock pink is used for blocking in the California Poppies along with Cadmium Orange and Cadmium Red Light. The leaves are painted with color left over from the foliage of the Lavender.

A Blaze of Red       24″ x 30″       Original Oil Painting

The centers of the California Poppies are added and we’re done. A Blaze of Red is ready to brighten my collector’s home. Remember, if you would like to enlarge any of the pictures just click the image. Thank you for following along, I hope you will visit the studio again soon. Have a wonderful day. Hugs, Mikki Senkarik

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