Coral

10 x 10" original oil

sold

This painting is from the same patch of flowers as Summertime. I love this patch of flowers. When I was at the Tulip Festival taking reference photographs and came across this colorful grouping I knew I was shooting great future paintings. There is so much layering and color variety; it is really fun to look at up close. Whoever ends up owning this original is getting one of my favorites. 

Remember the 26x40" panel I gessoed and posted about last week? I ruined it. I'm an idiot. Let me explain. I was ready to begin the drawing and decided to paint on a dark acrylic underpainting. I added a lot of water (apparently too much) to the acrylic so it flowed better, applied the dark color to the entire panel,  then put it out in the sun to dry. I ran and got some groceries, came home, and there in the sun was my warped panel. When Matt got home and took a look at it he said it was the amount of water I added to the surface before putting it out in the sun to "cure" that caused it to twist. I knew all of this. Why did I not pay attention to the fundamentals? Because I was in a hurry to begin. Haste makes waste, that was yesterday's mantra. Boo. Now Matt is starting from scratch and one big beautiful panel is unusable and will never be a painting. 

Because I ruined my 26x40" panel, I had nothing else to paint on except this 10x10" panel sitting on the shelf. It originally had another sketch on it that has been on there for months. I've never painted it because I changed my mind about how much I liked the reference. Thank goodness I had this 10x10" panel sitting around so that I had something to paint on yesterday and today. I was all amped to go for the big one so this little one was a let down, but I think it turned out really nicely. Unplanned paintings are sometimes the best. 

My friend and massage therapist (love her mad skillz) gave me the Hunger Games soundtrack and I listened to it four or five times this morning while working on this painting. I love to paint to new music! Thanks Becky. I was out working on this painting before 8:00 this morning which is rare. I had my studio door open and there was a group of baby robins hopping around in my doorway. It was a very 'Snow White' moment. No, I didn't start singing to them. 

Can I tell you something which I think is extraordinary? I mixed all of the colors for this painting with the brush right on the palette or on the painting. I did not pre-mix piles of colors with a palette knife to use as I went. The colors I used were: mars black, burnt sienna, raw sienna, mono orange, cad yellow medium, radiant lemon, radiant yellow, indian yellow, yellow ochre, sap green, cadmium green, titanium white, quinacridone red, napthol red light, ultramarine blue, and violet. I forgot to take a picture of my palette, but it was a swirly mess, which I love.