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Day 3: Red Gum

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Red Gum Bush
Red Gum Bush

 

A few doors up there’s two of the most beautiful Red Gum bushes ever and they’re in full bloom at the moment – the lorikeets love them & I can hear them squawking right now, so the blooms won’t be around for long (it still seems strange living where parrots fly around, even after 11 years).

I promised myself last year I’d try & paint these pretty flowers but after lots of excuses it never happened. So I decided to have a go today, before they all disappear for another year, they look so amazing!

My first try (roughly A4) was fun but the colours turned out a bit basic. I tried to paint some detail into a second glaze but it just feels wrong, I really struggle with backgrounds…   mind you, it looks better up here than in real life :-).

mixed-greens
mixed-greens

I had trouble with the greens too… all mixed by hand as I know they ought to be, but they look too bright. So, after some quick research I decided to paint a sample of all the greens I could get from the colours I have. Yes, something I should have done first. As result I’ve discovered that none of the primary colours I own mix good greens, so I might have to do some shopping! Mixing the two ready made greens I have with other colours gave some reasonable results though, so that should keep me going.

Red Gum 02
Red Gum 02

Lastly, I tried to paint just the flowers, aiming to get a more realistic look (and colour!) & focusing on just a couple of blooms. I received a tiny masking fluid dropper for Christmas, and you can see it does a fantastic job of tiny dots. Shame I hadn’t put an under wash on first, the dots are a too white! Again I struggled with the background, and the flowers are also very overworked – I must learn to wait for things to dry before trying to correct them, or better still, get them right to begin with.

I’d love to be flowing and loose in style, but I’m not managing the water & colour ratios at all. Not bad for a first go though, more tomorrow….