It might just be my warped mind, but every time I read the word "poppy" I see the word "poopy". Or maybe it's my feelings about this particular painting coming out in a Freudian slip. Either way, I set to work today hoping to fix my mistake last time.
I figured that my main problem likely lay in the fact that I was working too light a wash over a much darker area. In watercolour, the only thing that could happen when you do that is what did happen, which was lifting of pigment off the paper. So, I decided to tackle the problem in the reverse, which was to stop being a pansy and get some colour in there. Instead of strictly using blue, I mixed some indigo with my vermillion to create a deeper red, then I punched right into the darkest areas with this shade.
For the most part, I think it worked. There's no more wishy-washy lift off of colour like before, and you can see more of the folds and edges. And as you can see, the extreme contrasting shades really add interest to the shapes! I think I may have stopped too soon though. Some of the folds still look a bit under-developed and there's a few edges I'd like to have further words with. I'm not sure I can correct those errors, and the reddest petal in the middle is starting to look overworked.
There are definitely things I'm liking about this painting, and I'm learning more as I'm going than I expected to :) We'll just have to see how things continue!
If I may take a line from one of my favourite movies: Never give up! Never surrender!
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