HIBISCUS

Material Used:

• Colors: Deep Yellow, Cad. Orange, Leaf Green, Sap Green, Magnesium Blue, Prussian Blue, Alizarim Crimson, Burnt Sienna, Sepia, Payne’s Grey.
• Brushes: 3 flat-ended brushes (½, ¾ e 1 inches), 2 round brushes (# 8 and # 12) and a # 2 "fillet" brush.
• Paper: Arches, 300 G/M², 100% cotton, 28X39 cm.

Painting length of time: 20 to 25 minutes.

Procedure:

When working with the Arches, I immerse the paper completely in a bowl with water and immediately take it out. I fix the paper in a wooden surface and, with the paper still moist, I start the first strokes on the background using Magnesium Blue, a little Leaf Green and a few dabs of Cad. Orange, including the center flower (1).

Still taking advantage of the moist in the paper, I start the flower just above, precisely to give a diffuse aspect and consequently to give depth to the composition.

I use Cad. Orange, a little Alizarim Crimson and Burnt Sienna for the flower core (2).

I start to add more pigment to the composition, using Cad. Orange, Alizarim Crimson and Deep Yellow in the flowers, and then I set a few points of strong luminosity with Sepia and Prussian Blue in some areas around the main flower (3).

I emphasize the contrasts (4) and start to introduce the greens together with the flower blossom.

I start to mark the depthness of the flower cores and delineate some branches with the round brush.

Swiftly, I take out the paper pigment to form the flower’s pistils, specially the center flower, once the Arches is a kind of paper in which the pigment adheres with quite some consistency (5).

I emphasize the leaves, sometimes with the Leaf Green, other times with a mixture of Sap Green, Prussian Blue and Sepia (5).

I start then painting the lighter colored branches, taking the paint out with the flat end brush (6).

Again I move to the main flower and put on its core a mixture of Alizarim Crimson, Cad. Orange and Burnt Sienna. I also reinforce some shadows and flower outlines (7), working also on the pistils’ details.

Working with the moist Arches paper must be done rapidly, because it dries out fast and the taking out of the pigment for a luminosity effect is very difficult to achieve with the painting completely dry.

I add some branches and delineate some areas with the "fillet" brush (8) finishing the painting.