painting daisies...light and shadow on white

Goood morning!  I know, I'm terrible at updating my blog....I have a TON on my plate right now with kiddos, school, work, art, etc.....That's ok, though! 

Anyhow, quick morning post on the daisies that I recently painted.  I had a really great time painting all of the intricacies and shadows, so I thought I'd post some pics with some tips and such.

First, take several close up photos of a cluster of daisies...preferably in the sun so that you have strong light and shadow shapes.  These daisies were in my mom's garden and they aren't real summer daisies, they are a fall blooming mum, I think, BUT close enough... 

Anyhow, determine what colors you'd like to use to show the shadowed parts of the daisies.  I think that violet and cerulean blue make interesting and vivid shadow colors on white, so I decided to go with that.

I started painting the shadowed petals and laying on sections of the background so that the white flowers popped forward.

When painting the background color, I wet an entire area or shape until there's a natural stopping place. Don't wet your paper all the way up into the corners and edges or your corners will be messy.  Lay on the colors in your large area quickly and then switch to a smaller round brush, like a #3.  Use that smaller brush to paint in the crevices between the petals.  

Background colors are Hooker's Green, Viridian Green, New Gamboge, Burnt Sienna and Payne's Gray.

I forgot to mention that I did mask a few of the sunlight shapes on the bottom petals.  It makes it easier to paint a continuous color for each petal area.  

For the centers, I'm working wet on wet.  Paint on your lightest color first and then charge in the greens and browns on top.

As  I'm painting, I'm endlessly studying my reference photo.  Ask yourself, where do the shapes begin and end?  Where are your color values the strongest?  What is distracting and what do I want to include or enhance for the viewer?  

Ultimately, you are painting something that you want the viewer to enjoy for many years to come.  Use your darkest darks against your lightest lights to create contrast and visual interest.  Layer your colors to make the flowers pop off the page towards you.

Deepening colors, adding more shapes and shadows, working my way around the page.

Here, I'm resolving all of the corner shapes and shadows.  I've taken off the masking fluid and at the end, I'll deepen colors even more and "soften" petal edges and sun spots using a clean brush, tissue and clean water.  The finishing touches on your painting will really set your art apart, so don't skip those steps.  

I, personally, like my art to "glow", so  I spend a LOT of time softening edges and creating an ethereal kind of look.

Below is the final product!  I did darken the background again in some spots.  I added shadows to the stems to create a strong sense of light.  I deepened some of the cracks and shadows on the flowers so that the white really "popped" and I glazed areas with a cool Lemon Yellow to warm up the tone and give a strong sunlight look to the piece.  

Tip:  I often glaze a really thin, watered down yellow to my paintings at the end.  The yellow tends to make the underpainting more vibrant.

So, that's that! I hope this has inspired you to paint daisies!

If you'd like some reference photos, just say so in the comments and I'll email you some.

Happy Painting, my friends!

Cady