Amaryllis

This painting was a bit more experimental for me.  I had a panel that I had painted with a burnt sienna undercolor. I wasn't happy with the canvas texture on the panel and did not feel that it was suitable for a landscape. I had some nice photos of my amaryllis flowers (grown in a pot) from last year.  I like red and had recently sold another painting of red bougainvilleas. I thought it was time to paint more red flowers.

I poured various colors on the surface and spread them around with a palette knife. I scraped in a rough idea of the flower petals in some places where I had some yellow ochre (and some places show up the burnt sienna undercolor).  I was trying to get a sense of movement since these were live flowers, not dead ones (even though they were inside out of the wind).  I let that dry.

Then I painted and played with the flowers.  When they dried, I felt that the background was too pale.  I glazed the background with viridian mixed with the glaze (to darken it) and let everything dry again.  I added more details and highlights. I'm happy with the results and I'll look at it for the next week or so before I varnish it to see if I want to change anything else.

Acrylic on artist panel, 11" X 14". This painting can be framed (or not). There is a hanger on the reverse.  Contact me if you are interested in purchasing.  I will be making some cards from the image as well to sell at the next craft fair (November 3, 2012, Brookside Congregational Church, Manchester, NH).