This poppy painting was an experiment. I wanted to try some new things. First of all, it is layered. By that I mean that the background was painted in shades of green, blue, purple and gray originally. You can see these underpainting colors showing through here and there. I used to wonder what the purpose of an underpainting, done in complimentary colors to the final layer of paint, was, other than a waste of paint. Now I know that these subtle little nuances of color add to an overall richness of the final finish.
Secondly, I let the painting "paint itself." I often do this in my abstract pieces. To allow the painting to paint itself, you have to let colors flow together. You have to add water (these are acrylics) and push the pools of color around with a brush, with a hair dryer, with alcohol, with more water. When these free form pools dry, you go in with a brush or knife and paint the shapes you see as if you had drawn them in the first place. You add and subtract from what is already there. It's totally random and if you look closely at the background of this painting, you'll see where I did this.
The poppy petals were sculpted with modeling paste before I started the painting, a technique I use in many of my textured paintings. I think the finished piece has a vibrancy about it due to these layered combinations and the color notes I added towards the completion of the painting. And, by the way, this painting went through a stage where I thought - YUK - this is NOT working. Don't give up! Just keep working it out. : -)
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