Garden Art Experiment-Gazing Ball Part 6

I've made some significant progress on the paint gazing ball this week.  Last blog post I has said that I was considering painting the ball with Sunflowers.  However, after some consideration, I decided that I would be better off painting Black Eyed Susans.  The center of the Sunflower is a large head of seeds.  If the gazing ball was viewed from a distance, it would look as if the ball were covered in large dark circles.  The center of the daisy is a little smaller, but still gives a lot of contrast to the petals.

I have not completed painting the flowers on the ball.  About two thirds have been painted on, and another third has had my drawing transferred to the ball.  I haven't done any shading to the petals yet on any of the flowers.  In hindsight, I guess I should have painted that in wet on wet, but at the time I was more focused on just getting the placement of the flowers correct.  None of the stems or leaves have been painted on yet.  It has taken a lot longer to paint the flowers than I was expecting.  At the moment, the ball looks like it has campy flowers painted all over it.  Once all the shading and foliage are added it is going to look a little better.

For the sake of clarity, I'm explaining my painting process, but I'll add the disclaimer that if you want to learn to paint realistic flowers, you should probably seek a different site for better instructions.  Regular readers know that painting is not my strongest ability.  But I'm working on that, so who knows, one day my flower paintings will look better.

Anyway, to begin at the beginning, I made a couple of sketches.  I was also considering putting in a different kind of daisy that had more layers of petals.  My plan was to get all the first layer of petals in and then add another layer.  At this point, I'm thinking I am going to default to the Black Eyed Susan which has only a single layer because of the time involved.  The siren song of another project is calling, so I don't want to get too tied up with this experimental project.  I still have a considerable amount of painting to do on this project.  The first picture shows my original drawings of both types of flowers.

Once I had made a choice, the sketch was transferred to the ball.  The concrete ball is so rough that the image did not transfer very well.  It was very hard to see, so I ended up going over the lines with a pencil to make something that I could see well enough to paint.   At this point the lines were still only marginally visible, but it was enough to figure out what was what.  I went over each line with Burnt Sienna to act as a guide and give some shape to the leaves.  (Picture 3)  I would transfer two or three sketches at a time, changing the orientation of the sketch each time so that the flowers appear to be more than just one picture.

After each line was traced in Burnt Sienna, I painted over the lines with Cad. Yellow Light.  Most of the Burnt Sienna was painted over.  Only a sliver of the Burnt Sienna was left between leaves to help differentiate each petal.  The color was fairly transparent, so it needed two coats.  (Picture 4)  A little of the blue of the background still shows through in places, but that is okay.  That just adds a little more differentiation to the petals.  Once all the flowers are on, I will go back and add some more shading to add some dimension.  Then I will get on with adding stems and leaves.  Less of the blue will be showing when the painting is finished.  And that is how far along I am with the project at the moment.

All in all, I am satisfied with the way the project is going.  As always, I wish I could make it better than it looks.  I will be glad to get to the point of adding the greenery.  It does not yet look like I want this ball to look.  Once everything is painted, I will add some exterior varnish.  I think I have some Spar Varnish in the downstairs work room so I may use that.  If anyone plans to use Spar Varnish for a project of any sort, be aware that spar varnish must cure outside in sunlight.  Otherwise it yellows.


Today is Sunday, so it is also time to post my photo for the field project.  This morning it was slightly overcast and 45 degrees Fahrenheit.  We have had a couple of warm days and I can begin to see some more green creeping into the picture as small weeds and plants are beginning to sprout.  In the neighborhood, Maples are already showing red flowers in the sunniest areas, and the Tulip Poplars are not far behind.