Hydrangeas - SOLD

5 x 7 
Oil on Canvas Panel

This painting is Sold

Just trying to loosen up my hydrangeas. Learned a different technique for doing the background. I was reading about using transparent colors. I never knew the possibilities. There is so much to learn! I started by covering the green area of the canvas with just Sap Green which is a nice transparent color. Then highlighting with Thalo Yellow Green/Cadmium Yellow Light/White while it was still wet. The blossom was done with a filbert and the greenery with a bright. Fun to do. There is so much freedom doing it this way and hard to do it wrong. That's a great thing. I know these are not what hydrangea leaves look like, but I was just working on the background technique, not so much a particular leaf. In the photo, the darker blues are showing more exaggerated than they really are. That seems to be a problem with certain colors when photographing and I'm not sure how to remedy it. 

I planted another hydrangea bush this spring, next to one that I planted a couple of years ago. They are so beautiful and covered with blooms.

Just for comparison, here is one I did a good while back. Tighter yes, but I do like the blossoms.  With this one I used more Pthalo Blue so that the color is like they would be if they were in acidic soil. I like the background technique on the new one better. Hmmm, now I think I need to marry these two somehow. The top one was a quickie, which I wanted it to be. Next time I'll take a little more time and try to put the things I like best together and also use a larger canvas. I like to use these smaller ones for studies. I think there might be a difference in the quality of the photo also. That can be a real challenge.