Pastel Class Project: 3 Poppies

This week I added some more color and detail to the poppies but the biggest thing was to get a background in before I did the finishing touches on the poppies.

I wanted the background to look like sky and distant poppies behind the 3 main flowers though you can choose to do any kind of background you choose or no background.

If you decide to go with no background, find a color of chalk that is close to the color of your paper and use that to clean up the background around the poppies which is probably pretty smudgy, and then you are done if you want to put in my background you will need a medium blue, a light blue and a dark purple for the sky, 3 values (light, medium and dark) of a soft green like an olive green or moss green, if you don’t have a soft green you will have to mix a medium green with a touch or orange or sienna and a soft yellow for making lighter greens. If you have a dark blue like an indigo (a grey blue) or a dark green and dark purple for the darker green areas. Try to avoid using black to darken areas because the black will kill your colors and make them look muddy and not so nice, try to use your dark blues, greens and purples first.

I started at the top of the poppies using the medium blue and coloring in the area I wanted as the sky. I wanted all the poppies to have some blue behind them because blue and orange are complimentary colors and set each other off but I did not have a straight line across more of a diagonal soft curve.

Next I used the light blue and worked that around the poppies and up and inch or two, I will blend later once I have all my colors down. At the top of the sky and working down about half way down the blue area I worked in the purple. Now that I have all my colors down, I gently blended the sky colors together starting in the light area and blending up to the darker area to create a soft transition of color. Be careful around the poppies though if you need to add ripples around the top edge of the flowers you can do it with the blue just don’t blend too much or it will turn green.

Next I did the distant poppies behind the 3 flowers starting with the lightest green, even some yellow putting it down in blotches like the sun is hitting in some areas and not in others. In those “other” areas I used the medium green to fill in the blotches and the dark green and blue into the corners to create the idea of shadows then I blended all these colors softly together to create a soft mottled background that looks like grasses or green plants in the distance.

IF YOU WANT you can add the suggestion of poppies by using your red orange and just making non-distinct shapes in the green. While they can “suggest” poppies you do not need to “say” poppies because your viewer will know that already because of the 3 very detailed poppies who are the stars of the painting telling them those marks are poppies. If you make the distant poppies too distinct, they will distract from the subjects of the painting defeating all your hard work. I went back in and lightly touched each flower to gently blend it into the greens.

A curl back.

Once your background is in you can go back into your flowers and clean up any smudges or places that might need a bit of work. I lightly ran my finger around the edge and hard lines inside of the flower on the right to lightly push it back so it appears slightly out of focus.

Basically, I think I am done or I could be done at this point. I may choose to work on it a bit more now that I am looking at it, I think my background needs a bit more work but overall, if you feel your painting is done, please stop and live with it for a few days before touching it again. Just because I choose to work on mine is because I saw it needed something, you may not have the same problems I have so don’t create them just because I am still fiddling with mine. Leave it be for a few days then look at it with fresh eyes, if nothing jumps out at you, you are done and will need to find a new project to work on for next class.

 

I softened the whole flower to put it our of focus

If you have finished the project you will need to find something new to work on, I am going to see if I can get what I need together to do a matting demo either this time or next as I have had some questions concerning matting a pastel. Not making promises, I have to have the right stuff to do it. Keep painting and I will see you in class.

The shine highlight is a very light yellow.

Detail of the stems and shadows cast on the petals.