"Store Bought Tulips"

(Bid On This Painting)

This will take you over to eBay

Yesterday I mentioned that I went into a flower shop and bought a Begonia to paint for you. What I had failed to mention is that I bought Tulips as well. Painting flowers takes everything that you have as an artist. Not only do you have to get the colors right but since flowers are living things, they change every minute. Painting flowers from life is great practice if you want to hone your outdoor painting skills. I feel that painting with red is one of the most difficult colors to get right. I recommend that if you want to paint flowers from life for the first time, stay away from flowers that are made up of pure primary colors (red, yellow and blue) and look for models of a softer hue.

When I paint, I mix most of my paint directly on the canvas instead of the palette. This is a great way to achieve a fresh looking color effects. If you mix on a palette, it is a good idea to mix with your brush and don't over mix your paint. Colors that are mixed too thoroughly lack the brilliance of paint that is just slightly mixed. Colors that are lightly mixed will appear broken within each stroke which adds more variety and interest.

Always keep your palette clean, and paint like you are a millionaire, with big squirts of colored paint. Rinse your brushes in clean turpentine between every stroke. For cleanups, use Awesome Cleaner. You can find it in the Dollar Store. It is the very best cleaner to clean your paint brushes and it works great to get dried paint out of your clothes and car upholstery.
I hope to offer more painting tips as this conversation continues.

If you have questions that you would like me to answer, please don’t hesitate to email me anytime. I welcome your feedback. Stefan_Baumann@yahoo.com