Traditional bouquet in Oils pick up these materials from any gold mont marte art centre Cmmd6076 Mont Marte double thick canvas 60 x 72cm bmhs0019 mont marte gallery series brush pack 6pce bmhs0024 mont marte gallery series brush pack 5pce bmhs0026 mont marte Gallery series brush pack 7pce mpb0003 mont marte gesso brushes 3 pce mcg0062 mont marte palette knife #11 Mcg0009 mont marte oval wood palette maxx0007 mont marte brush washer stainless steel pmsa0005 mont marte silver series acrylic yellow ochre pmsa0018 mont marte silver series acrylic paynes grey pmsa0010 mont marte silver series acrylic titanium white mpo0001 mont marte professional series oil paint Titanium white mpo0002 mont marte professional series oil paint Lemon yellow mpo0003 mont marte professional series oil paint medium yellow mpo0016 mont marte professional series oil paint ultramarine blue mpo0023 mont marte Professional series oil paint viridian green mpo0026 mont marte professional series oil paint yellow ochre mpo0031 mont marte professional series oil paint ivory black mapl0004 mont marte stainless steel twin paint dippers Linseed oil painting medium
Step 1 Setting up the arrangement First the arrangement must be set up so it can observed as you paint it I have chosen to paint Sunflowers and Daisy Chrysanthemums because as cut flowers they tend to stay alive longer, and I think sunflowers are pretty cool and have been a favourite subject for artists for a long time There is a photograph of my bouquet but I urge you to set up your own arrangement and paint it from life, you will learn far more like this than you ever will working from a photograph So use the photograph just as reference as you set up your own arrangement I am using an old glass jar as a vase and a white table cloth that I ve created some folds in I have also thrown a tea towl the left side, this will exaggerate any shadows and give me a more dramatic effect Now set up your canvas to the same height as your flowers and a meter behind them Step 2 Preparing the canvas It is important to knock in the wooden keys supplied with the canvas as this creates a taught support that will be less inclined to warp Squeeze out 1 part Paynes Grey, 2 parts Yellow Ochre and 3 parts Titanium White all in the Silver Series Acrylic range Scrub this onto the surface of the canvas with the Gesso Brush Don t worry if this is a little patchy, in fact the patchy texture creates more interest Let this dry Even though this is an Oil painting, an under painting of Acrylic paint is fine as the hard plastic attributes of the paint create a really good base for Oil paint to sit
Step 3 Drawing up the Image To create a good drawing mix of paint we have to create a dark Grey mix from 1 part Ivory Black, 1 part Titanium White and 1 part Linseed oil painting Medium Take a good look at your subject Observe it and your canvas Mentally divide the canvas up in to equal proportions Imagine a central line, then a horizon line Observe where your arrangement lies in relation to these points Draw the basic fundamentals on to your canvas using a small Taklon Filbert from the Gallery Series Brush Set If you put a line in the wrong position then wipe it off with a rag Remember the more measuring and correcting you do the less you will have to do later on Make sure you draft in the jar accurately but leave the area the flowers will occupy A common mistake people make is that they put their focal point directly in the middle of the canvas It looks better if the focal point lies a little to the right of centre Step 4 The Block in of the bouquet This first stage should be thought of in tones The trick here is to keep these coats really thin First mass in the Yellow of the sunflowers using Yellow Medium applied with a large filbert Pop in the dark brown centres of each Sunflower with a mix of Black, Orange Red and Yellow Ochre in equal proportions Next scrub on some Titanium White where the Chrysanthemum Daisies lie Now we can paint the Greenery of our bouquet, so create a dark Green/Grey from 1 part Black,1 part Ultramarine and 1 part Yellow Medium Paint in the area where this greenery lies, areas like in between the flowers and the stems as well You might feel that this is too dark don t worry we will be painting another lighter layer over the top This dark under painting is what supplies depth
Step 5 Blocking in the table area Mix 1 part Linseed Oil Medium with 1 part Titanium White Scrub in the White of the table cloth with a large Filbert Keep the application very thin in any areas of shadow, and let the under painting show through Play close attention to the folds in the table cloth and add more white paint to the areas in highlight Remember that the side planes will be a different tone depending on the light source For example the top of the table will be flooded with ambient light, but the side will not be getting as much of this light and as a result will be a slightly darker tone Now the tea towel Depending on the type of pattern on the tea towel you have chosen will obviously determine those colours but try to choose a fairly simple tea towel The tea towel I have chosen is a generic White one with Blue checks on it As well as being simple to paint everyone has seen this pattern before and it looks as people expect it to Step 6 The background The background should be a patchy broken surface to add interest, the best way to do this is to mix the paint on the canvas directly This way it is not too uniform So squeeze out some Titanium White, Yellow Ochre and some Ivory Black onto the Palette Keep the 3 piles separate Starting from the top left hand corner, lay in some White and using criss cross strokes spread the paint over the surface Into this mix some Ochre and some Black Mix the colour roughly and then stop to avoid over mixing Try to let the under painting show through in parts As you move to the right, darken as you go Make it darker still in areas behind the flowers to suggest shadows falling on the wall from the bouquet Step 7 Top coating In this step we need to add form to the flowers Use the largest brush you can get away with, and try to move from light to dark For the sunflowers lay each petal in with Lemon Yellow then drag Light yellow created from White and Lemon Yellow over the previous coat to act as highlights, Next dab Yellow Ochre into the centre part of the flower Next we will paint in the daisies So tint some white using a touch of Ultramarine With the palette knife tip, lay in the petals going in the direction of the stem Lay some petals in pure white over the top of the flower too This will suggest highlights Next create a Green from 1 part Ultramarine to 4 parts Yellow Medium and a touch of white Paint your stems and leaves with this mix Add Lemon Yellow to the mix to create differing Greens, as you don t want it to be all the same as it can look a little artificial Don't forget to paint a little grey surrounding the stems in the jar area
Step 6 Detailing This is the part of the project that will tie the painting altogether In this step, lay in the dark areas that will be in shadow and any light areas that will be flooded with light Also take a close look at the vase Add in any areas of highlight in the exact position that they lie on the vase, use pure Titanium White for this Lastly paint in any leaves or flowers onto the table top One of the main reasons a painting works, is accurate tonal values If you can recognise that every colour has a tonal value then you can paint any subject Until next time Keep on creating