Ox-Eye Daisies in Water-Mixable Oils

Ox-Eye Daisies

I started this painting by coating a 12" x 10" stretched cotton canvas with a mixed, scumbled base of Payne's Gray and Prussian Blue Acrylic and then in oils using a soft round brush I stippled the background with various shades of green mixed from Cobalt Blue and Cadmium Yellow Pale ranging from very dark blue shades and lighter, greener shades of the green mixes. You can see the under-painting in the top right hand corner showing the dark blue-gray base. Over the background I establish the basic flower forms and though the petals may look white at this point they are actually painted in a pale lavender grey colour mixed using Zinc White, Cobalt Blue, Alizarin Crimson with a touch of Raw Umber. You will see the difference when I put the white highlights on the petals and strengthen some of the shadow colours. Finally I painted the centres in a mix of Cobalt Blue, Yellow Ochre and Raw Umber.