I really want to paint flowers well. With practice, I am hoping to make progress. Any help or feedback is appreciated - especially if you paint flowers well and have some tips or insights. I have spent countless hours reading and watching dvds. It is now down to the practice of getting better.
My first flowers from my garden with Geneva paints - painted Summer of 2017

The above won 2nd place in the Advanced Amateur division of a local art fair but I was never pleased with the roses. This is oil on linen 10x16
Below is just reference for my well documented thread of trying to copy a Michael Klein painting from his dvd.

After great feedback, I went back to my Geneva limited palette - picked a rose from my garden and attempted to paint it. Not only was time an issue because of the death issue of flowers, but I was also going out of town for a month so only had a day to paint.
Excuse my messy studio - it is hardly Carder approved but I have about 8 other paintings in progress in various areas of the room.

why I love painting from life - here is a photo snap just to get an idea of composition

I don't have to worry about camera settings or blown out areas when painting from life.
So, I started going a tad crazy and had to paint a reminder to not push or exaggerate what I am seeing

Of course, I had to write subtle in red with exclamation marks

Below is as far as I was able to go - I don't remember the exact size of the linen - obviously not my usual golden mean dimensions.

the photo is grainy and from a cheap cell phone - it does look slightly better in person.
I still want to study while on holiday - I have some small tubes of Williamsburg oil paints but only 2 small brushes - no medium or solvents so I used my finger a lot - this beautiful hibiscus was in our yard so I decided to practice with it. I do have some strips of linen here so this is about 5x7

I may go purchase a small container of mineral spirits as it is difficult without that.
Today, I will practice a small red rose from the neighbors yard.
My goal is to paint beautiful flowers - any help or suggestions is greatly appreciated.
Comments
Your new 5x7 study also has delicacy, and those petals looks fragile and thin, the edges a little ragged, and I think that is what (some) flower paintings need, and why I like the study so much.
@Richard_P I will be happy to do it!! Will you help with a photo - I am very computer illiterate . Now, I only have some small tubes of oil here (I wasn't able to pack my Geneva) - I have two small brushes and no medium - I have a few other brushes for some gouache I was playing around with so I can wait for them to dry out. I may be able to get mineral spirits later in the week but I don't mind giving it a go without it - I do have several pieces of linen - it is oil primed so can probably get some of my lights with relief with a q-tip.
Is it okay to use white, ultramarine blue and burnt sienna??? Do I really have to stick to black and white? This will be an excellent exercise! Thank you for suggesting it!
I would really recommend sticking with black and white (which you should be able to make from ultramarine blue and burnt sienna).
I am jealous of people who know exactly what they want to paint all the time.... I think that is a weakness of mine.... I can’t decide what it is I really truly want to paint so I just muddle through every subject .
You do beautiful flowers and maybe because the stilllife captures your own style, flare and brushwork it stands out to me as the loveliest.
@Richard_P I am attaching some photos that I have saved - please let me know what you think would be best. I think simple and less complicated to start off with. Here are my small tubes of paint and my brushes - I have plenty of linen pieces so no harm, no foul. I'm not afraid to jump in and if that means some pieces of linen are in the garbage, that is fine.
Please understand, this is what I have for supplies (i'm not going to let things not being ideal or perfect stop me from painting) - the lack of mineral spirits could be an obstacle. I am thinking of having a light brush, dark brush, using a q-tip for relief in some places and I'll wrap the brushes in saran wrap - I'll probably throw them away when I am done if I can't get mineral spirits before they are dry.
I have a million photos, these are just 3 - any suggestions appreciated. Thank you in advance for your time.
Converting to black and white
Altering the contrast
Quickly blacked out the background
Cropped
(I'm sure Kingston could do a much better job)
What do you think? No problem if you don't like it, just one approach.
I really, really love what you did with this @Richard_P !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you, thank you, thank you!
I wish I didn't have my hands tied with paint and mediums but I will never let that stop me from painting - I think people wait for perfect circumstances too much and don't paint because of needing something. I will be using my fingers a lot and that will be fun.
If I was on Survivor and in the woods, I would take a stick and paint in the sand with shells and rocks. I think this is magnificent @Richard_P how did you do that?
Pixabay is great, but if it's your own photo I find I have more motivation to do the painting.
I can't explain more about how I did the photo really than what I already said. There are some issues with it, but it should work for your purposes
Oh, williamsburg is a stiff paint (from what I've read). You might well need some thinner or some oil to add to the paint.
Hope this is helpful.
Cheers
Rob
@tassieguy that was very helpful!!! Thank you. I've never used oils with absolutely no medium before so your tips will come in handy. I am finding the glory of the oil primed linen when I use my finger or q-tip - I have a horrible habit of piling paint on top of paint on top of paint so your trick about thin layers for the darks first by more scumbling is going to help. I think my favorite art purchase ever was that brush dip - I wish I had some here! Like you, my husband is very sensitive to any solvents - I know that I have used Dawn detergent to final wash brushes so may try that at the end (instead of throwing them away). I didn't know whether I should dip the brushes in a little more paint before wrapping them or drying them as best I can - so that is interesting the you wipe as much off as you can - I'll see if I can get some oils today.
Had time to practice a rose this morning.
Finding it difficult without any medium. Husband still sick so I have plenty of time to paint (fingers crossed I don't get that flu).
Thank you for your help everyone - I am on a mission! I'm semi-pleased with the white rose. I do feel I am making progress.
Here's to a beautiful flower for tomorrow's lesson! I did find some linseed oil this afternoon so tomorrow, there will be no excuses.
I do paint a la prima, wet in wet, @Richard_P, but it's just that I block in the dark areas first and make them thinner because I'll be putting lighter colours on top of these blocked in areas and that's easier to do when the dark paint beneath is thin and it also keeps to the fat over lean rule if I need to use oil to make paint thinner for doing detail with softer brushes. Hope that make sense.
I used vine charcoal on the back of a print and outlined it for an easy transfer - so, I can easily transfer a couple more and then get to the painting exercise.
The above rose and lilac was painted with only a 2 inch brush and my fingers - I wanted to lose the tightness. Not like anything I have ever painted before but I like it. My husband hates it (in the best way possible)
trying to use big brushes and simplify. It rained yesterday so I didn't have lilacs in the house so decided to keep with my big brush and shape them with some 5x7 linen panels I have. I paid great attention and was deliberate but wanted to keep things simple. Sketches only to free me up. I also wanted to paint what I think is pretty - not necessarily copying exactly. Trying to make a pretty painting. Anyway, I'm rambling. Here are my lemon sketches
I tacked my 5x7s on foam core and stained each one different to see what the difference is - I was able to finish 3 - will do more tomorrow.
Thank you for your time and any input.
The leaves and twig with all lilacs and lemon 1 are really effective. That rich blue background goes so well with the lemon.
I like lilac 1 very much.
are you adding anything to you paints to thicken them? Cold Wax? Liquin?
@BOB73 when I am working with Geneva I add no medium - it has enough of it's own. This latest flower posts have been various brands (Rembrandt, Daniel Smith, Williamsburg and Lukas) - they are all pretty dense on their own and I have no trouble loading a brush,palette knife or my finger and applying it - I have started using neo-megilp (I have used liquin for 15plus years) but I only use mediums like that for transparency - my shadows or for glazing. The neo-megilp I have heard is great tor consistent flow of all colors and brands on the same painting. The thick places you see are just me loading a brush or palette knife and placing an enormous amount of paint. I don't think my self portrait hat will ever dry because of how thick
@KevinGE "pretty good" Pretty good? Pretty good??????? these are FANTASTIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Now, without further ado, I shall share my embarrassment of today.
I'm tired of my studio room, I'm tired of my still life set up and various lights and I'm tired of killing beautiful flowers so I decided to take my studio outside. I set up my French easel and decided to paint in my backyard with the flowers on the bushes and outdoors. it didn't go well.
General idea of what attracted me most today - I thought this could be a beautiful sketch - i'm still working on my 5x7linen panels - I used putty tack to stick them onto cardboard
I had to answer some phone calls and came back to this:
also, I found out that the putty tack is great indoors but on 80 degree days, it doesn't stick so I had to use masking tape once I was able to try to salvage dirt in canvases and brushes and palette.
So, obviously, THAT flower didn't want to be painted - so I moved to another area
Did I mention that I'm supposed to be painting my lilacs??? I'm learning an enormous amount and am very appreciative for my health and abundance of supplies.
This was about 10 hours work today. I have nothing to show for it but what I learned internally. Number one being : make sure I tighten all screws on my French easel and don't use putty tack if i'm going to be outdoors in heat.
I'm impressed by how positive you are staying and productive you are
great work @Julianna