Sunday, April 17, 2011

Geraniums, Too


Another practice painting for the larger painting I want to do next week.  I think I did much better on the blooms this time.  However, I still can't paint leaves!

I think I need to practice painting nothing but leaves for a few days.

8 inch by 8 inch oil on canvas panel

29 comments:

  1. Virginia, I think this is wonderful! Your leaves are great. Gorgeous colors and really nice brushwork. Enjoyed chatting today! Take care!

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  2. Lovely Virginia...obviously, practice makes perfect!

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  3. Keep doing leaves like these and you will be doing well!! Great painting at this size, can't wait to see the larger one!

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  4. Thanks, Kathy. I really had fun talking with you. Thanks for all the information.

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  5. Thank you, Dana, for visiting and commenting. I tell my friends it's like practicing scales on the piano.

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  6. Very nice Virginia. Colors and composition so nice. Well done!

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  7. This is a wonderful painting, Virginia. Beautiful color and I think you did a great job with the leaves.!

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  8. Flowers and leaves are going to be as comforting as apples. You do very well.

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  9. Very nice geraniums Virginia. Flowers are really hard but you're having good success. I think I like your first painting of the geraniums the best. I like the loose spontaneous brushwork. Thanks for your kind words and wishes, I posted about the tour.

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  10. This is lovely, Virginia! You are well on your way . . . beautiful light and color. Leaves will likely be secondary in a flower painting so you'll need to get the essence of them but possibly not articulate them too much. I'm finally beginning to shift my ocean-liner brain to focus on essentials and suggest the rest.

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  11. This painting makes me wish summer were here. :) Really great work Virginia! I can see your style loosening up some, it looks good! I love the bright colors here too.

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  12. Your painting is beautiful, Virginia. It sparkles with light and has a lot of energy. Lovely!

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  13. You're doing great with your flowers! They are among the most difficult subjects to paint well. Several of us are painting geraniums lately. You were talking about reds...I like cad red medium for lots of things, but my geraniums are pinks! None of the reds with white added will make that vibrant pink...so I had to explore and found that quinacrodone red and quinacrodone magenta are perfect. They are fun to use. Can mix in a little yellow or white...so fun! A girl's got to have some pinks!!!

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  14. Keep it up! I can really see how well you are progressing.

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  15. Very nice colors again, Virginia!You recently mentionned Van Wyk's color recipes;did you buy her book, or were you able to read it online?it seems very interesting, I looked for it, and could only read a part, on Amazon (on red color, especially).

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  16. Sylviane, I did buy the book on Amazon. I bought a used copy in excellent condition from a bookseller online.

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  17. Virginia, I think that your florals are spactucular! Such brilliant colors ! The leaves are wonderful. as are the flowers, all beautifully done!

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  18. I don't understand why you said you can't paint the leaves - they read very well! However, if next time you don't want to stress about it - how about massing in the 'leaf' color, and using the back of the brush to carve out the generalized shapes of leaves - then if you just tip some highlight color on the edges - you're done - and stress free. As I said - I don't get it - I would be happy if I had painted those leaves! And thank you for painting my favorite color of geraniums!~

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  19. Virginia, I need to check in on your blog more often. I just love the Geranium paintings. The color is fabulous

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  20. I think your leaves look fine. Just suggest the shape and let the viewer fill in the rest of the information.

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  21. Thanks so much, Kelly. I'l try that technique. I've been practicing, but not posting them.

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  22. Loving the geranium paintings!! Can't wait to see the larger version. After having just painted a lot of leaves I will tell you if you focus on the lights and darks and the shapes that they make it will be easier. After I was finished painting my leaves and stood back I realized, Oh, that's what that was:) Good luck on your large piece, but if your small ones are any indication it's going to be great!

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  23. Hey there Virginia, thanks so much for the visit and your lovely comments. Looking forward to your next post!

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  24. Great colors, can't wait to see the large one!

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