Having made a detailed study drawing of gladioli in charcoal (posted Sept 28th) I wanted to have a bash in paint. Couldn’t get the same colour which was deep pink but these orange-red were still very vibrant and lovely to paint. I put in the dark tones first and then lifted the tones in stages to the lightest on the petals. Plus the vase, really looking to see how the water distorts the size of the stems.
I had prepared the canvas with a coat of acrylic primer but it was still very toothy and rough so I used a fine sandpaper to smooth it down, which worked well. Working big was fun and different to my smaller pieces and will try more. Although it’s not possible to do the painting in one day as it’s too big, this one was at least two.