Crocus III

I came away from my studio feeling very positive about the direction this painting is going.  This a huge turnaround from how I felt yesterday - once again I struggled against the panic and fear that seems to go with working creatively for me.  I did win out in the end.  I pushed past the fear and walked into the studio, sat down and started the routine of preparing my paints, etc.  It's amazing how routine can quiet the mind and absorb fear.

Anyway...I worked more on improving the shadows in the petals.  I read somewhere (maybe James Gurney?) that objects that face the sky will reflect blue in their shadows, while objects that face the ground will reflect reds/browns in theirs.  I could see that effect in my reference photo, so I tried my best to follow it.

Then I worked to define the veins in the petals.  One thing I've definitely learned from this project is that when you are doing veining, do them first.  Veins should be under the shadows not above them.  It doesn't show well in the picture, but in the real painting it looks to me like the veins are above the shadows.  I also decided to darken the areas behind the flower to better allow the flower to "pop" in the painting.  After this I decided that this was about as much damage as I wanted to commit and chose to remove the masking on the pistils.

After looking at my reference photo for a bit, I decided that it would be easier to mask over the dark portions behind the pistils in the middle.  This way I could work unimpeded and the values would be more fluid.

I've never added masking to a painted surface before, and I noticed that the colour started to move into the masking.  I'm really hoping that this doesn't mean that the mask is absorbing some of the pigment.  We won't know until I lift the mask unfortunately, but if it has, I am determined to try to paint the dark areas back in.  I decided to prep my paints and palette for the oranges and yellows needed in the pistils and then I started my first wash.  I kept going, adding darks and lifting lights until I started making mistakes.  Then I figured I'd quit while I was ahead :)

We're not quite done yet, there's more definition to put into the pistils, but I can definitely see the finish line!  I like how the orange of the pistils has added some warmth and life to the painting - not just a focal point.  If you compare this image to the one above, before I added pigment, the painting seems very cool and lifeless I think.