Don’t you love Red Poppies? Jack and I certainly do. Fall is time here in the Texas Hill Country to put out wildflower seed. We’ve seeded several areas with both Red Corn Poppies and Bluebonnets. Now we’re praying we get the right amount of rainfall over the winter to give us a glorious blanket of vibrant color next spring. But in the meantime let’s just make our own and immerse ourselves in a bed of those lush crimson Poppies. The first step on this commission is to sketch my basic plan in a thin oil wash of MUD (Ultramarine Blue + Alizarin Crimson) + Liquin.
Following my usual sequence of Flowers First, Leaves Last the application of paint begins with the blossoms. Working in this order keeps the flower color crisp and clean. If the leaves were blocked in first my brush would pick up some of the green when painting the flowers, muddying their brilliant hue. The blooms more in the distance, at the top of the canvas, are painted darker and cooler so they will recede. Mixes of Cadmium Red Deep + Magenta are used.
The flowers lower down on the canvas, closest to the viewer, are blocked in with Cadmium Red Deep and Cadmium Red Medium. Then work begins on the foliage. Cooler greens made of Pthalo Blue + a bit of Cadmium Orange + a hint of Cadmium Yellow Medium + White are used in the background. Moving down the canvas more Cadmium Yellow Medium is added to the mix making it warmer.
White and Cadmium Lemon is added to the leaves directly in the front, making their color brighter and more intense. This makes them come forward. Then I start adding highlights to the Poppies with Cadmium Red Light. The thick paint is gently “Laid” on top to avoid picking up any of the color underneath.
Poppy Parade 14 inches by 14 inches Original Oil Painting
Adding the detail in the centers of the flowers finishes up our Poppy Parade. Hope you’ve had as much fun following along as I’ve had painting. Oh, almost forgot! You can enlarge any of the pictures by clicking on the image 🙂 Hugs,
Mikki Senkarik 
September 23, 2014 at 6:44 PM |
Dear Mikki do you still do the notecards? I am almost out and would like to buy some more!
Thanks! Cindy
Cindy Wigglesworth Author, *SQ21: The Twenty-One Skills of Spiritual Intelligence* President, Deep Change, Inc. http://www.DeepChange.com Office: (+1) 713-667-9824 Fax: (+1) 713-513-5933 1415 S. Voss #110-117 Houston, TX 77057 TEDx Talk: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mX9adE0FSaw Book page: http://www.deepchange.com/sq21book
On becoming a leader: “Lead yourself first with such authenticity and depth that other people will choose to follow” (C.Wigglesworth)
September 29, 2014 at 8:32 PM |
Hi Cindy, It’s great to hear from you, hope all is going well in your life. I hate to disappoint but we’re no longer doing the note cards. We just have more irons in the fire than we can handle! I’m extremely fortunate as an artist to be so busy, many thanks to our collectors like you! Big Hugs, Mikki
September 28, 2014 at 10:16 AM |
Hi Mikki! I love your blog and have learned so much! I need your help though, please tell me what colors you mix for beach sand. I’ve checked your earlier blogs but cannot find it. Thank you for your generosity! All the best to you and Jack.
Thank you, Nadine
October 31, 2014 at 7:48 PM |
Hi Nadine,
I usually use combinations of Ultramarine Blue + Cadmium Orange + White for sand. If I want to darken the color a little I’ll add a touch of MUD (Ultramarine Blue + Alizarin Crimson. If you want the sand to be even creamier you can add a tiny bit of Cadmium Yellow. But don’t do too much, it will start to get a little green. Hugs, Mikki