I’m a late night painter, so when I share my new work, it usually appears well after dark and on my Facebook page first. Shortly after posting Tipping Point Geraniums last night, a flower friend asked, “Exactly what red did you use in your geraniums?” The answer: There are more reds here than meet the eye! In fact, there are some pinks and violets, too. A lot of what I love about geraniums, that keeps me revisiting these complex, addicting flowers, is their silhouettes. Once you get that undercarriage just right, you’ve solved the formula for what makes a geranium different from another cluster flower, such as a hydrangea. But back to those reds, how, exactly, do you get the best reds in your floral paintings?

Paint in layers, beginning with transparent color first.

I paint in layers, beginning with transparent color first. I dip into opaque color in the final step of the painting. I am generous in my use of transparents. I am frugal when using opaques. Transparent color is vibrant, clean, and less likely to turn to mud. If you’re not familiar with transparents vs opaques, there is no need to pull out the supply catalog and order new gear. However, if you just want an excuse to order more paint, that’s another thing entirely and I’m happy to enable! In your existing arsenal of colors, whether you’re working in oils, acrylics or watercolor, your pigments can be divided into transparents or opaques. How to tell which is which? Check out the square on the tube, or the web site for the brand manufacturer. If the square is black, the color is opaque. If the square is white or the square is white with a line through it, it’s transparent or semi-transparent. (For the record, I use semi-transparents as equals to transparents.) With acrylics, you will find a sliding scale of transparency vs opacity in many brands. And I would add, it’s even more critical to learn the difference between transparents and opaques if you work in watercolor.

When it comes to reds, there are two colors I find absolutely indispensable in oils and both are transparents: Alizarin Crimson (any professional brand) and Transparent Red Medium by Rembrandt. These two colors carry the load when it comes to creating the bone structure of a red geranium. I also use a bit of dioxazine violet in the deepest shadows, especially if I’m painting a dark ruby red flower versus a warmer, lighter value such as a peach or salmon color.

The challenge I see many students face when painting red flowers, is the over-application of cadmium red. Cadmium red is an opaque color. It’s beautiful, but it is also pervasive, invasive, and awfully hard to dig your way out of with successive layers of color. Its power, as an opaque, is to completely cover what lies beneath with a dense layer of color, as well as a healthy amount of pigment (thus the high price tag!). Using this color sparingly, and toward the end of creating the structure of the flower, is key.

Yet another challenge in painting reds, is the fact that cameras in general flatten red colors to orange. It’s hard to photograph a red flower and get the nuance in value and temperature you might see in person. When adding a highlight to a red flower, I often use a pale pink mixture for two reasons. This cools the color, which makes the highlight bounce against the heat of the cadmium red. It also lightens the value without the muddying effect of mixing white into cadmium red. White is the color killer. Add it to cadmium red light, and you get a chalky pink. Instead of adding white to a cadmium to create a lighter value, use Brilliant Yellow Light by Richeson (Shiva series) or Ice Blue by Richeson (Shiva series). Any time you have a color that looks chalky, the culprit is often too much white has been added. If you’re overseas and unable to order the Richeson colors, you can use Cool White by Gamblin, or mix white into Indian Yellow to get a similar mixture to Brilliant Yellow Light.

The secret ingredient in painting red is lean into transparents!

In closing, you can paint a red flower effectively without ever touching any opaque color. The secret ingredient in painting red is leaning into those transparents! I’ve shared one example, with the painting Drama Queen Poppy, below. If transparent colors are your superpowers, opaques are your kryptonite! If you’ve got a great tip for painting in reds, I’d love to hear from you. Leave a comment and let me know what awesome new things you’re discovering in your studio. Want to know what all my favorite colors are? Check out my Favs here!

If you enjoyed this quick tip on painting red flowers, you are invited to join me for The Joyful Brush!

Painting Monet’s Garden Is Coming

The countdown to Monet has begun! Have you dreamed of painting in gardens filled with the light and colors beloved by the impressionist masters? My newest online journey, Painting Monet’s Garden is coming!

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Blooming this summer! Learn more…

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Last week was super busy in Flower Mound Studio, with four video shoots and two live events for my students. The most challenging thing I do is paint in front of a camera, where the pressure to produce at the highest level is unrelenting. One thing artists are consistently good at is feeding the flames of the inner critic. Not every painting is going to be a masterpiece, but we flagellate ourselves with gusto and enthusiasm any time we fall short of producing an opus.

Are you also super skilled at pinpointing those things you think are wrong with every painting you complete?

It took me years to realize that I had to apply the same attitude toward painting on camera that I do alone each day in my own studio. Instead of considering every painting a final destination, the pinnacle of all I have learned, I now see each painting as a study. Before I begin, I stare down that intimidating white surface and tell it sternly, “You’re Just A Study.” Just for good measure, I announce it again, when the painting is done. (Yes, I’m talking to myself in the studio.) Sometimes I’m overjoyed with the finished work and, sometimes, I am not. I have quite the pile of discards, enough to shingle a few roofs.

The purpose of being a daily painter is not to arrive at some mythical pinnacle, but to always be working toward the next painting. It’s a journey, not a destination. The day you think you have nothing else to learn, is the day the progress ends.

Granted, it takes lots of deep breaths to embrace a Zen type state and a “let it be” attitude. The key is to get out of my own head and give the brush the lead. This is a lot harder than it sounds. Painting and studying daily is important, because it involves analyzing, measuring, and assessing your progress and growth. It’s a tricky balance to let intuition play a role when you’ve got your calipers and value viewer out. To allow yourself to fail and to forgive yourself for that failure, no matter how many times it happens, is what divides the pack. Will you keep going or will you quit?

I watched a student cry when she completed a painting last spring in the Texas Hill Country, she was so excited and delighted by what she had created. Her painting was not a masterpiece by today’s measure, but, for her, it was an awakening. As I learned later, she was painting again as a result of the dying wish of her sister, who knew that creating color on canvas was an important part of how she would find happiness again after they said their goodbyes.

Once we find a way to redirect our vulnerable side, and be kinder in our own self critiques, we are allowing a doorway for joy to become a part of the daily process. Art is healing, and it’s also rewarding. It’s okay not to be perfect and it’s also okay not to paint to someone else’s exacting standards. If painting makes you happy and gives you fulfillment, you won’t stop. The only failure in this story would be walking away from the brush forever.

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I was hosting an art group in Italy three years ago when we were touring the home and business of Vittorio Baltrami. It was the highlight of the trip, a cheese and olive oil tasting at one of premiere olive oil makers in the region. Vittorio asked each of my students, in turn, what they did for a living. The first responded that she was an accountant. The next said she was a retired teacher. The next said she was a realtor. After about the seventh answer, I wanted to jump up and down and yell. Not one of them said they were an artist! Here I was with a group of talented painters who had traveled across the world to pursue their passion, and not one publicly acknowledged they were an artist.

Tonight during a live video for my online class, I asked the the group to share stories about when they first realized they were artists. When did each first have that “aha!” moment, and knew they were meant to follow this creative path. Many said they realized they were artists in grade school. Several said they knew before the age of 5 years. Almost every one that responded had a particularly striking memory of receiving some accolade or award and knowing they had a special talent.

Why do we hesitate to identify ourselves as artists? Many of you who are reading this are creatives. An artist is not simply someone who uses a brush or pen. Whether you create in paint, textiles, stone, or flower arranging, whether you are a writer, landscaper or designer, chances are the need to follow that calling has been a part of you for most of your life. So many of the artists in my classes are women, and setting aside art to raise a family or to pay the bills can be necessary. But finding yourself again, afterward, can be a way to recharge and rediscover your heart and your joy.

You’re an artist. Don’t be afraid to own it.

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Being an artist makes you an unusual and amazing creature in this materialistic world. What you create will be not only a physical legacy you leave behind, making the space around you more beautiful, but it will be a frame of mind and a willingness to pursue dreams witnessed by your students, your children, and by friends who need to know that art is a noble calling and a real profession. The next time your friends or family introduce you as an amazing artist, say thank you. Agree, graciously, that you are, indeed, an artist. It’s time to own it!

When did you first realize you were an artist? I would love to hear your story!

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I rely upon familiar rituals when I am preparing to paint: laying out a fresh palette of color, replenishing piles of color where needed, replacing turpenoid containers with fresh cleaner, topping off the bowl of baby oil for the brush spa, stacking up the freshly folded Viva paper towels, and lining up all my brushes in size order (kidding, I only use 2 brushes…).  Are the pug kiddos all happy and content and have they had second brekkies and early lunch? Once every item is checked off the list, my mind is in a quiet place and I’m ready to lay down the first dab of color on the blank canvas.

This is my zen.

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Eliminating the barriers to painting is critical to the art journey, including carving out and fiercely guarding the physical space where that takes place. I recall dozens of times in my early painting years where I didn’t paint, simply because it meant hauling out all the gear from a box or closet and setting it up on the dining room table. If you’re trapped in that routine and find it impairs your creativity, consider keeping all of your supplies on a rolling cart in a closet, so you can roll it out, ready to go, rather than having to unpack and reorganize each time.

Once you’ve got your equipment in place, your studio space staked out, and uninterrupted painting time established, there is one more housekeeping chore: Calming your mind, clearing your thoughts, and giving yourself over to the act of creating. For me, that means turning off the sound on the phone and computer so I don’t check email each time it pings, and closing the studio doors so I’m not distracted by those exciting Amazon prime deliveries of dish detergent and new socks. I turn on my latest book on Audible, get my flower setup exactly so, and set aside fears and doubts and dive in.

Here’s my zen list. If it helps, you can put your zen list on a sticky note and check off each item with a magenta sharpie. This is super helpful, mainly because magenta is such a fabby color. 

Finally, I remind myself that this painting is only a study. It’s a step to the next painting. What I’m creating today is not the be-all, end-all of my art career. Every painting is simply one step in this journey, and God, what a beautiful journey it has been….

Prepare Your Space

Calm Your Thoughts

Accept Why You’re Doing This

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If you feel like the load is lighter before you begin painting, you’ve given yourself permission to have fun and embrace anything that happens. You’ve given yourself permission to paint something you never dreamed you could tackle. You have allowed yourself to fail, before you even begin, so fear is no longer part of the equation.

Have you found a ritual that helps prepare you for painting? I would love to hear from you!

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