Draping Wisteria

Let’s Rock! Mixtures for the rough stone wall are laid out on my palette. The basic color is Cadmium Orange + Ultramarine Blue + White. MUD (Ultramarine Blue + Alizarin Crimson) is added into the darker shadow mixes and more White for the lighter ones. A blob of Ultramarine Blue + White for additional coolness is also made.

After covering the shadow part of the wall, the crevices between stones are indicated using the corner of a medium Bright brush. I don’t want to totally outline each and every individual rock but rather just give the impression of the rough wall. To see this larger click on the image.

The sunny side of the rock wall is finished in a similar fashion. Notice the blue toward the back of the walls jutting forward on both the right and the left. This makes them cooler so they recede, just as in painting the most distant peninsulas of the Big Sur Coast in our last session. Now to the red door. The dark part is Cadmium Red Deep + Magenta while the part in the sunshine is pure Cadmium Red Light.

Wisteria heralds the arrival of spring in gardens all over the United States. The Sunflowers we’ll plant in a later session are summer bloomers. That is one of the joys of painting, I can make flowers bloom in any season! The base purple mixes of the Wisteria blossoms are various proportions of Dioxazine Purple + White.

The leaves are painted around the purple, shaping the blossoms. Some of the twisting, curling stems of the vine are drawn into the wet paint of the wall.

Bracing my wrist against the mahl stick that is hooked over the top of my easel, I paint the individual petals of the Wisteria blooms. The same brush used on the crevices of the rocks is employed here. If you would like to learn more about our mahl stick CLICK HERE. Have a wonderful day. Hugs, Mikki Senkarik

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