Growing a Poinsettia

Someone bought some cards of a poinsettia painting that I did about 8 or 9 years ago. (It looked fine as a 4×6″ image, back when I was first learning to paint. Be polite, okay?)

She liked it so much that she asked me to paint the same picture for her as an 8×10″ oil painting. 

Oh boy, another do-over!! This time I get to do a better job because I paint better and because the canvas is larger to accommodate more detail.

There wasn’t one photo that was my guide when I first painted this. I used several, simplifying the image as much as possible. This time I am using several photos again, but not simplifying the flower so much. This looks a little bit weak in color because the paint is wet and shiny. This is at the end of day #1.

In the next painting session it looks almost finished, but there is more layering, the center detail, edges, and finally. signing. (Then drying, scanning, varnishing, drying yet again). This was painting day #2.

You can see in the next photo that most of the painting looks weird and reflective, because it is wet and shiny. There are 4 petals that haven’t been re-layered. This was painting day #3.

At the end of the painting session, I hung it out in the workshop to begin drying. This one wasn’t in a huge rush to be delivered, so I didn’t want its messy wet self in the house.

Funny how it doesn’t look reflective here. That is because it has indirect light from the window rather than a lamp shining on it. That lamp helps me mix the colors right, but makes for poor photography.

And finally, this is the finished and scanned commissioned oil painting of a poinsettia. Color looks duller than in real life. I hate that. But, the real one is brilliant. Guess you’ll have to take my word for it.