New Artwork: Fuchsia

I find Fuchsias weirdly fascinating. I think they look like some sort of alien flower experiments that have not quite been able to hide themselves on planet Earth. They are a tropical flower, which might explain their way out colours and petal structures. They are native to Central and South America.

The first step in my painting was to arrange the composition how I wanted it. This flower was going to be a macro style pop art flower - big and bold and pink in the centre of the page, so a pencil outline was the first step.

The purples used in this painting have been Art Spectrum Flinders Red Violet and Flinders Blue violet with Payne's Grey in some of the darker sections. The pinks used are mostly Spectrum Crimson and Windsor Newton's Opera Rose.

The petals were painted one by one, taking care that the colours, light and darks gave a three dimensionality to the petal shapes. The background is Art Spectrum Sap Green, but I have gone over it with a couple of layers of Lemon Yellow after it dried, as I wanted a more lime, pop art / tropical colour to the background. I'm happy with how it turned out. It looks really vibrant and a bit out there, which I think captures the spirit of the Fuchsia.

This original painting is available for sale here.