Anatomy of a Tulip...Painting

A client recently contacted me concerning a commission.  She had a brochure from a show I did several years ago and was at a place to commission three tulips for her home.  Although I've done these same Parrots before, these new works would be of a different size.  When I photograph my subjects, I may have photographs of the same subject that will be similar but slightly different.  For example, I took multiple shots of these same tulips from different angles, different times of the day, and over a period of a couple of days.  This allows me to complete more than one work from a single subject.

My client was very interested in the process of how I achieve my final results so I thought I'd take this time to show you pics of these works in progress.

First and foremost, I start with the sketch.  Since my work is scientifically correct, this is probably the most important step.  Once I have the sketch that I like, I proceed to laying down color.  Since I work transparently with gouache, the colors that are first laid down will dictate what direction the colors laid over will be.  In other words, with these three tulips, the reds have yellow undertones so Cadmium Yellow Pale is the first color.

 

There are several steps to this stage.  The first pic above shows the Rococo with a light wash of the yellow.  The Flaming Parrot and Orange Parrot below show a strengthening of the yellow stage with more layers of the same yellow and adding Permanent Yellow Deep and Cadmium Orange.

Once I have the yellows laid down, I start to add the Spectrum Red and Permanent Green Deep.

There are many stages at this step to slowly deepen the colors to where I want them to be.  Finally once I have the colors to where I'm happy with them, I start to deepen and shade the colors to give them that photorealistic quality my work is known for.

 

Rococo.  22" x 26".

 

Flaming Parrot.  22" x 26"

 

Orange Parrot.  22" x 26".

Each painting takes many painstaking days to complete, but I wouldn't be happy with anything less.

These three works are being mounted in one of my favorite frames, an exquisite Louis 12K white gold hand finished moulding.

I'm extremely pleased with the outcome and hope I've given you a slightly better idea of my process.

If you would like to speak with me about commissioning a work or art or concerning an available work from my website, please do so at contact@johnmatthewmoore.com.