Sunday 29 May 2016

Sunlit Clematis

In my search for the best way to paint strong sunlight and shadows, I searched my stock of photos and found this lovely photo of some lilac /pink clematis from my garden last summer.
I thought it an ideal subject to have another go.


I have painted Clematis lots of times and been pleased with the results, but this time I wanted to capture the burnt out effect of the strong sunlight and the dark shadows created by this sunlight,

I did a very careful drawing and added a 3rd flower bottom centre behind the other main flowers to hopefully give a more interesting composition'
I painted the flowers first using only two pigments....quinachridone magenta and ultramarine violet.

I was quite careful to follow the darks and lights from the original photo as I wanted it to 'read' correctly when it was finished.

I will admit to finding it difficult to add the dark shadows, so afraid of spoiling it at this stage, as the flowers had taken some time to paint.  I also dreaded doing the background as the source photo was too dark and I did not want to make the same mistake that I had made with the Fatsia leaves (previous post ).
I am not sure if the leaves are dark enough even now, but I will live with it in the studio for a while and then darken any areas if I think it will help'


I am not sure either, if the shadows on the flowers are 'blue' enough but I think it is a step forward and I will keep on returning to this subject for now and see if I can really master it. There are some lovely roses out in the garden now so maybe they will be next.


13 comments:

  1. Thank you for the lovely comment. I am pleased that you enjoyed looking. Thank you also for your support and encouragement.

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    1. Thank you for looking at my blog. I do hope you continue to browse from time to time, and thank you for the lovely comment

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  3. Very interesting art blog and so amazing paintings !!!

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    1. Thank you Art-traveller. I am glad you find the posts interesting and I appreciate you very nice comment about the paintings

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  4. These are lovely, I do love your florals so much. IMHO a very dark background might make it a little photo realism-ish way (maybe),please do try it.

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  5. Thanks, Shweta. I am so pleased you enjoy looking at the paintings. Sorry....am not sure what IMHO can mean.
    Will try a very dark background again soon on another painting.

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    3. in my humble opinion:)love your Rhododendrons, the third pic you uploaded of progress is a delight in itself

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  6. Thanks, Peggy, for the lovely comment

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