I use drafting tape a lot to keep my lines straight. It works on clean white paper okay, but not on painted paper. If you use it on painted paper it leaks (sometimes it leaks on clean paper too unfortunately). It's important to pull it off right after you paint the line in case it has leaked. Not that you can fix it, but you can see the damage sooner. ; )
The pink heliconia on the upper right is now in. That big white area in the upper left is full of green leaves and an orange blob that isn't really identifiable. I've decided to add one more flower there to break up all the pinks. The new flower will be orange and yellow.
This is the new photo reference.
At this point I'm filling in the white spaces.
The protea down in the bottom right corner does not have shading on one side consistent with the rest of the flowers (I added it from another photo) so I will need to fix that.
The new heliconia on the left side is the one I added. I've been covering the painting with clear cellophane bags (you can see them above) to protect it from splashes. It's funny to see-- I feel like it's a surgical operation, with only the area I'm going to paint exposed. The cellophane bags work well because you can still see the rest of the painting. I set my water bucket and palettes right on top of the protected painting so that I don't have to reach several feet away.
This is the finished painting. I painted on 300 lb. Fabriano Artistico cold press paper which came on a roll. I used mainly Daniel Smith watercolors, a few Winsor Newton watercolors, and Escoda kolinsky brushes. I purchased the flowers at the Kahului Swap Meet.
I also put grommets in the top of the paper so that I could hang it on a curtain rod in my studio when I needed it out of the way. This was very helpful, as the painting is 42.5x70", plus a few inches on all sides!
The painting will be hanging at the lovely Sea House Restaurant in Napili, Maui by the end of March. If there is a reception, I will post the information!
Posts
