Friday 7 December 2012

Asters

In amongst all the bustle which the beginnings of the Christmas festival brings, it is difficult to find time to paint. I have painted several Christmas cards, but cannot share those with you until after the event for obvious reasons! In order to keep a bit of sanity, I looked out a simple, gentle calm photo of lilac Asters and have had it on the table all week where I could do a bit now and again when I had 5 minutes.

It was completed in very much the same way as I do lots of my paintings. I wet the paper - Fabriano Artistico Extra White ( but Not this time) - and dropped in colours around the paper, trying to get the purples where the flowers might be and the greens where the leaves and background might be. It was left to dry completely.

I then drew in the flower shapes and painted them a mixture of Ultramarine Violet, Quinachridone Purple and Quinachridone Magenta all by Daniel Smith. I used white acrylic gouache where I wanted the highlights and where I wanted some of the petals to be lost into the background, and I painted the yellow centres with a mix of Hansa Yellow and Quinachridone Rust by Graham& Co and Schminke Transparent Orange.
Once all the flowers, leaves and stems were painted, I darkened the bottom left background and when dry gave the whole painting a good spatter to loosen the image a bit.
The finished result is very restrained, but I think I am pleased with it and don't think it will need any tweaking before mounting!


'Asters'   26 x 36 cm
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16 comments:

  1. ann @ studiohyde7 December 2012 at 17:20

    Gorgeous, really gorgeous Yvonne. You are so skilled with your flowers. I like the little drifts of white paint too (at least I am guessing they are added), or did you use a different method?

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  2. Yvonne Harry7 December 2012 at 17:57

    Hi, Ann, thanks for your comments, Its lovely to know that others are enjoying my art. Yes, the little drifts of white are acrylic gouache, either splattered or added with sometimes a light spray of water to make them blend. Hope that's helpful.

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  3. Blaga7 December 2012 at 18:07

    So beautiful and airy!

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    1. Yvonne Harry7 December 2012 at 18:12

      Thanks Blaga, that is exactly what I had hoped to achieve.

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  4. Lorraine Brown7 December 2012 at 22:01

    Fresh and lovely, like the warm touch LH bottom grounding the stems

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    1. Yvonne Harry8 December 2012 at 09:49

      Thanks Lorraine, The flowers are very pale, so I always try to include either some darks or some warmth to add contrast. Glad it works for you.

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  5. artist8 December 2012 at 05:26

    Love your work. This painting of the asters is beautiful.

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    Replies
    1. Yvonne Harry8 December 2012 at 09:50

      Thanks for the comment, its lovely to know that what you do has an appreciative audience.

      Delete
  6. Peter Ward8 December 2012 at 10:05

    A very delicate touch. Not the easiest thing to achieve.

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    1. Yvonne Harry8 December 2012 at 16:20

      Thanks Peter.I have been doing so many 'strong' paintings recently, that I had to think about it a bit before beginning, Glad it works for you.

      Delete
  7. Ray Maclachlan Art8 December 2012 at 10:42

    I enjoyed this fine painting Yvonne, but most of all I was fascinated to see how you achieved the result.

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    1. Yvonne Harry8 December 2012 at 16:22

      Thanks Ray. Sorry I did not have the time ,this time, to post stage by stage photos and go into lots of detail. If there is anything you want to know or is not clearly explained, please do ask.

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  8. Unknown10 December 2012 at 20:09

    A highly competent piece exhibiting all of your customary control. However, I didn't feel the same sense of emotional involvement with this one that I usually do, it might be something to do with the palette or more likely my own current humour.

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  9. Yvonne Harry10 December 2012 at 22:48

    Thanks Mick. I am sure it is to do with the palette. There is not the strength of colour that has been evident in some of my recent paintings and the pastel approach does not suit everyone......thank goodness we are all different

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  10. Unknown11 January 2017 at 22:06

    Beautiful, light and romantic...

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  11. Yvonne Harry13 January 2017 at 15:03

    Yes, they are delicate, but they do not smell very nice so I cannot bring them in as cut flowers!!

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