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Saturday, March 7, 2009

Let's paint Spring pansies


Pansies are considered Winter flowers in Southern California and I love mixing them with early Spring flowers for a fresh look. I am painting a series of tea cups with flowers called "Tea Thyme" and thought it would be fun to share with you the progression of a simple painting.


First, let's look around my garden for inspirations.


Finding inspiration . . . . .

Here . . . .




There . . . . .






Everywhere . . . . .





Bentley, My Studio Assistant is helping me look for inspiration.

Hmmm . . the pansies smell good!


"I think we have found our inspiration"



I think the pansies would look very nice in a blue and white tea cup with some of the pink inpatients to add a touch of Spring.





Now that we have decided what to paint, let's get started.


The first step is to base coat the canvas with a light coat of Naples yellow and then sketch in the tea cup and pansies. Next I paint the cup and saucer with a light blue violet. This will be the base coat for the white.


Next I paint in the dark greens as I paint from dark to light -this gives me an idea of where the flowers will be placed. The tea cup will be blue and white, but first I need to base coat the tea cup using blue violet. This will give depth to the white.



Then I paint the flowers in using the colors I want them to be. This gives me a feel for what the overall painting will look like - notice I paint in the flowers in solid colors. The next step will be to develop the flowers using lights.

Here is the finished painting.

Wishing everyone a lovely week. Thank you for visiting my blog and for taking time to leave me a comment and following my blog. If you have any questions or would like to see me paint something special please leave me a comment or send me an e-mail.

15 comments:

Georgia Peachez said...

It was a spring weekend here on the east coast with temperatures up to 80 degrees yesterday! This painting just hits the spot! xo, suzy

Ruth Welter said...

Hello Erin,

Beautiful painting... I myself love pansies.

Thank goodness you had sweet Bentley there to help you find that inspiration...it looks like he is indeed a very helpful fellow in the studio. Have a creative week my friend.

Ruth

Phyllis said...

Another beautiful piece of art by Erin!

Thanks for the lesson - very, very helpful to me!!!

Bentley is such a good assistant; please tell him he did a good job suggesting what you should paint :)

Four Paws and Co said...

This is wonderful! Thank you! ☺♥☺ Diane

Anonymous said...

Erin, thank you so much for stopping by my blog and for your sweet comments.

I loved all of your photos of pansies and the finished painting.

Only one thing I think needs to be added to your blog: a pansy behind Bentley's ear. :-) He's adorable!

Diane

nikkicrumpet said...

It is the coolest thing watching your paintings come to life! And you know I always enjoy a picture or two of Bentley!

Charlotte said...

What pretty pansies. Pansies are our winter flower here in Arizona too. How nice you know how to paint them. I recently got a program for my computer for painting. I'm not talented in painting but it's fun to play around with. The program was free after a $30 rebate. Can't beat that. lol
Charlotte

Anonymous said...

Hello,
I saw your adorable garden in the Country Sampler Home Tours magazine. Questions - where did you get the geranium rugs and yellow table cloth and can you paint geraniums for me?

Can we see inside your house? I bet it is really cute.
Leslie Anne

Anonymous said...

Hello,


What a cute cottage garden. Can you show us what the inside of your cottage looks like - do you use a lot of yellow inside? I love the red and yellow side of your garden.
Thank you
Ileen

Bargain Decorating with Laurie said...

Beautiful pansies-the real ones and the painted ones! I love pansies, and your painting of pansies in a cup just speaks to me. You are so talented. Oh how I wish I had that talent. laurie

~ ~ Ahrisha ~ ~ said...

Thanks for the flowers. Your pictures are very much appreciated. Here in PA it's beginning to warm but everything is still brown. I really needed that.
Thanks for visiting and leaving your kind comment.
~ ~Ahrisha~ ~

Anonymous said...

I just found your blog and love your paintings and your dog is so very cute!!!!

Julie said...

The flowers are pretty - but your gardening assistant is ADORABLE! I was just out visiting new blogs and found yours. Enjoyed my visit!

Anonymous said...

Erin,

Your garden and art in the Country Sampler magazine is beautiful. Are we going to get to see inside your home?
Can you tell me where you bought the darling geranium rug and do you have any geranium art for sale?

Leslie Jean

~Lavender Dreamer~ said...

Could you stand right next to me...and maybe hold my wrist and guide my brush? heehee! I love your art and someday I would love to TRY to paint something! This one is especially beautiful with the tea pot! I am SO proud of you! I am still in awe of your accomplishments!