Embellishing Hummingbird Hideaway

Today we’ll embellish a Limited Original, a digital reproduction of my original oil painting Hummingbird Hideaway. The giclee on canvas is taped to a large piece of double ply cardboard. Notice the note from our printer, Miguel, at the bottom “No Varnish.” He did this to remind me he didn’t apply any UV varnish to the giclee. So before the piece was set my easel I covered the entire giclee with two thin coats of the UV varnish. This protects the piece from fading, adding to its longevity. If you would like to view this or any of the other pictures larger just click on the image.

I use Winsor Newton GRIFFIN ALKYD Oil Paints for the hand embellishing. They come in the same colors and mix like regular oil paints, but dry MUCH, MUCH faster. This allows me to add a lot of texture to the piece and still have it completely dry in a couple of days.

The first step is to glaze areas of the giclee that I want to be richer in color. I mix a little of the Alkyd Oil Paint with Liquin, an alkyd based dryer, to make a thin wash. #1. Burnt Sienna + Liquin. #2. Pthalo Blue + Liquin. #3. Ultramarine Blue + Liquin.

The floor is glazed with mix #1. The area to the far left of the brush has not been covered, can you tell the difference? I’ll use mixtures #2 and #3 to make the color of the water in the background richer.

Our collector, Nancy, has a dark wood front door. I repaint this one to match hers a bit more closely.

We’re painting the gates to be similar to the upholstery on the chairs in Nancy’s living room. It’s fun working with collectors to make art that fits their individual environments. I’m using mixtures of Pthalo Turquoise Blue + a touch of Ultramarine Blue + White in varying combinations for the wooden gates.

The white water of the rapids in the distance is highlighted with White + a tiny touch of Ultramarine Blue so it will drop back. I don’t use pure White here, that will be saved for the flowers in the foreground.

The last step for today is to repaint the chili ristra hanging by the front door. Thank you for following along….. I hope you’ll come back and watch the next session, I’ll be finishing up. Have a great evening. Hugs,