Iris Painting Finished
It's finally finished! In a perfect world I'd paint from start to finish in a few days. That rarely happens when juggling family commitments and I think it works in a weird way. It's easy to be too critical when you are working up close on a painting. A number of small break between painting helps me see it with fresh eyes. Things I thought were awful turn out to be just fine and having time to mull over the step helps move things along when I pick up my paint brush.
I surprised a lot of you, my dear readers, with my choice of red for the irises. I have pushed the red to more of a maroon and I think you will love how it turned out. I dug out an old hard copy photo of a maroon iris that at one time grew in my yard. I used this photo as a guide for the highlight and shadow colors. If you look closely, you can see the shadows are a deep purple and the highlights in the sun show fuschia, oranges, and a little yellow. Here's the scanned photo:
And finally – here's the finished painting!
I am pleased with the finished painting. You'll will be able to find this on my Etsy shop over the weekend. Hope you enjoyed following along with this painting and the peek behind my easel!
If you missed the beginning of the painting -links to follow along with the painting:
http://www.sibstudio.com/starting-a-new-painting
http://www.sibstudio.com/iris-painting-update
Beautiful!
It looks SO GOOD! great job.
How beautiful! I love your paintings. I am also curious to know more about the exact process of painting. How do you manage to get the same colors when you paint with so many breaks, for example?
Debbie & Janet – Thank you!!
Kanelstrand – Thank you!! I use a stay wet palette to keep the paint moist during painting & breaks. In my opinion it’s a must have tool for acrylic painting. I paint with mostly liquid acrylics. Liquitex makes a great variety of premixed colors so I don’t have to waste time mixing or trying to matching colors if I don’t have time. I also paint with a sideloaded flat brush. I love the way this style allows me to get great control of the paint. Those are my secrets : -)
It turned out beautiful just like I knew it would! Great job!!!
Thank you Sher! It’s always a relief when it turns out good! That’s not always the case lol
Your painting is just beautiful! I love the deep, rich colors
Your painting looks great! I looked back at the previous post where you had started it and love seeing how it came together!