Flower in progress

I love the simple beauty of a single flower blossom! This one will be quite dramatic as it will be a "white" flower against the dark background. This composition will also add to the drama, as you can clearly see the wonderful shapes of the negative spaces. Many people ask me how I create my dark backgrounds, and whether I use a black paint, like Mars Black or Ivory Black. I only use black paint from the tube to finish the outside edges of the canvas so that the painting does not need to be framed. My dark  backgrounds are actually a combination of blue, green and red paint to create a vibrant "black". Depending on what hues will be in the painting, I can lead the paint in different directions. This one is toward the blue side, whereas in my last sunflower, the background was toward red.  The size of this canvas is 16" x 16" - not too large, but big enough to make a bold statement. And I am painting in acrylic paint. As it progresses, I'll post pictures.