My artist friends who paint together on Tuesdays and Fridays were a bit short on what to paint tomorrow, so I remembered some pretty good cactus photos I had taken on a trip to West Texas and volunteered a drawing. You probably can imagine what came next...after I had the drawing done, I decided to paint it. And, my thought in this little quarter sheet piece was to throw some paint on and paint fast and loose. I've posted the wet first step with just sloping new gamboge, quin gold, prem rose, and some turquoise that was on my pallete in a very loose swash. Of course, I had the drawing down and lots of masking for those prickley cactus needles. Next step was to find the ripe pears on the cactus and have fun with their colors. I tried to retain some of the colors (that you don't usually find on cactus) on the pears and the actual cactus before going in with the greens. If I ever play with this drawing again, I'll probably use some magentas and several blues in some places rather than leaving the whites. Who knows...just depends on how the day goes.
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Thanks Mollie, this was fun. Where did you get the idea to swirl colors around before going in and painting the image? I love it.
ReplyDeleteHi Guy...thanks, and nice to see you here. Actually, if the truth be told, I lifted that swirl of colors idea from Terri Hill's fabulous new painting called "Grape Expectations". When she first posted her WIP on FB, you could see this huge swish of color (not thought of with grapes at all) down the middle of the large sheet. You should go to her FB site and check it out. Wish I could claim it as mine, but that would be tacky!
ReplyDeleteAstonishing cactus, Mollie.I liked your technique and what you managed to achieve from this!I have seen Deb Ward using similer technique and I am in awe of it!How do you manage - not to stray!great work, indeed.
ReplyDeleteThanks Arti. This one really painted itself when I started looking at the colors. By the way...I don't remember if I told you, but I visited your website and love your work. Your portraits are marvelous.
ReplyDeleteThank You Mollie, for sharing the process, It's really wonderful!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the inspiration Mollie. You do wonderful work! I'm going to try the swirl of colors tomorrow. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by Sheila and "AA". I painted another piece with the same drawing but used more pastel hues yesterday, but left it so my friends could see how it was done. Will post it Tuesday when we paint again. Do try the swish of arbitrary colors...it's really lots of fun. Just don't cover up your fresh colors when you start to develop your subject.
ReplyDeleteMollie this painting is beautiful - I love the "swirl method" another wonderful approach to painting, the results are so fresh and clean. Best of both worlds, painting loose and then tight and detailed.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Joyce. Good to see you here as I know really busy you and Guy are. Love watching your success!!!
ReplyDeleteNever to busy to check in with you Mollie!! Keep up the great work.
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