The poinsettia as an oil painting subject was challenging. One of my students requested that I demonstrate rather than just explain. That was a big “duh” moment for me. I should have thought of that myself!
I’ve been in workshops before where it seemed as if the demonstration was a waste of time. This is because the demonstrator/teacher/artist didn’t say why he was doing each thing. He would forget to explain, so I’d watch with no idea of how to make my own decisions. I did my best to explain how I mixed each color and why I added how much of which primary or white.
My demo painting is lying on the table on the left, with just a corner painted. It was enough help for this painter to approach her painting with more confidence than the previous session.Good progress made, color mixing learned, shapes refined, blending techniques successfully used.
The color got corrected on 2 petals to a more satisfactory match to the photo. Matching the photo wasn’t necessary for believability, but it is great practice.Great progress made on this one – petal shapes refined, color mixing and blending learned a bit more.This one is closest to being finished, but knowing the painter, she’ll probably want to keep layering and perfecting. (She is the most experienced painter in the group and a quick study.) It looks a little pale because it is wet and shiny.
Maybe next year we’ll just finish all the incomplete paintings from previous years’ workshops.
