Vase with magnolia

I saved this picture more then a year ago to paint it once. And  now was the time to do it. I am on a holiday in Germany and I took al my painting materials, so I can paint all day long. Don’t worry, I visit the sights in de region between the drying of the paint and walk with my dog in the woods.

I started to make the background first. On the picture the background seems grey, but I added some green and brown to the background, so that the shade of the bouquet on the background will have the same colour as the bouquet itself.

Then I mixed some beige with a gel medium to make a relief on the canvass, in order to create a wood-like effect. Because the vase would not have to have such a wooden structure, I made that flat. Then I painted the branches with the flower buds.

I had a lot of paste left on my palet, so I painted the flowers with the paste too, without paint. The gel medium paste had to dry and that took quite some time. A good time to go for dinner in a restaurant with local food, very nice. When we came back I wanted to continue painting, but it was too dark and the light in our vacation house was not bright enough.

So this morning I could go further with the flowers and the wooden stool. I wanted to add the line of the shape of the surface of the stool, but I was very satisfied with the shades and light so I decided not to do that. Thanks to the gel medium, the light paint sticks behind the relief of the gel medium, which make it seem there is really shining a beem of sunlight on the stool. I used the same shade of green for the flower buds as I did for the vase. I did the same for the colour of the stool and the brenches, this gives the painting a soothing look.

To make the vase look like glass, I used a glossy medium and first made one layer of a bit darker green over the vase. Then a layer with the same medium and zinc white (which is a bit transparent). Finally the white spots with a bit more zinc white and glossy medium. If the sun shines on the painting, it shimmers even more and the vase comes alive. When I finished the vase, I had some glossy medium left on my palet, so I gave the stool also a layer as if it was lacquered. The flowers have also a layer of glossy medium, so they will shine in the light as well.

While I was painting, I wondered wy the stool only had 2 legs and won’t fall over. However, I guessed the 3th leg was behind the other one, don’t you think?