Acrylic paint and pastels are two media that are working very well together, learn how to paint a peony with a few simple steps.
Peony Exuberance : How to paint a peony with acrylic and pastels
This is the picture I used as a reference, I took it in my front yard. I liked the composition and the shape of the petals but the whole picture was too pink to my taste and a bit too much on the cold side in terms of colors.
Starting with a flat colored underpainting has many advantages:
It will unify the colors of the painting by adding a bit of the same underpainting color everywhere
You don’t start with a scary blank canvas
Some of that underpainting color will show in places throughput the painting.
Red, orange and blue are commonly chosen colors for underpaintings.
Let this first layer dry completely.
You can start by drawing the outlines of your flower quite loosely the red underpainting with a white china pencil.
Close up of the drawing.
I start applying layers of acrylic, with 3 colors that are corresponding more or less to my mid tones, highlights and dark.
Then I am adding dark purple in the shades.
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The well-balanced sets are chosen from Amsterdam’s full range of 70 genuine artists’ colors, formulated with high concentrations of authentic, non-fading pigments. These heavy body paints are exceptionally durable and flexible due to their 100% acrylic resin formulation. – Expert Series Set of 12
I start to introduce some orange to balance the pink.
You can add more light with layers of semi transparent white ( white acrylic diluted with medium)
Keep on adding layers, trying to have some of the previous layers show at the edges.
Once the acrylic paint has dried, you can start adding pastels on top of the acrylic, this is a great method to try on some color compositions as you can just wash off the pastels if you don’t like the result. If you like what you did paint with the pastels, fix them with workable fixative so you can keep on adding layers of acrylic or pastel and they won’t smudge.
Keep on adding colors until you are satisfied with the result, alternating layers of acrylic and pastels. Here I added more yellow, orange and green acrylic layers.
Adjust colors until you are satisfied with the result.
Originally from France, I have been living in North Vancouver, Canada for the past 20 years.
My work has been collected and exhibited extensively in Canada and internationally. I am also part of the Art Rentals and sales program of the Vancouver Art Gallery.
Many of my paintings have been published in Art books and magazines (Artist Magazine, Watercolor Artist Magazine, Acrylic Magazine, International Artist Magazine). I wrote 2 art instruction books with North Light/F+W Books.
I have been writing for the last 5 years for my blog: paintingdemos.com, that has a mailing list of about 10 000 subscribers and about 20 000 visitors per month.
I am an active member in the community, as a co-founder of the North Shore Art crawl, a co-founder of a weekly life drawing group, a board member of the North Vancouver Arts Council, and have been invited as a juror for public art, art grants and juried exhibitions. You can read more about my collaborations here.
Beautiful! I love how you think outside the box and make it work so well. What kind of workable fixative do you recommend that is archival, and also works with oil pastels? I get overwhelmed by the different choices, brands, and formulas. Thanks!
Thanks Diane 🙂
As a fixative I like to use Krylon workable fixative in my mixed media works because it works very well on different media including Watercolor or ink, and you can rework once you sprayed as many times as you want.
I really like seeing the stages of your work, Sandrine. I see, I think, that all those first layers contribute to the fullness you achieve, in the long run, in your finished paintings. I like this series very much. I had seen two of them, previously and the two you have added are great, also. What I like the best about your series is that they are different, but all look great together.
Thanks Leslie! I noticed that whatever the media I use I am now almost always working in layers, because I get better colors and interesting edges. I can’t go to the studio most of July and August because my kids are at home, so I miss painting 🙂 Anyway I found that usually taking a break is good for painting, you get back to it with more enthusiasm .
I really like the new works you are posting on your blog, gorgeous colors and textures. Makes me want to add a bit more collage on my paintings!
Comments (8)
Diane
Beautiful! I love how you think outside the box and make it work so well. What kind of workable fixative do you recommend that is archival, and also works with oil pastels? I get overwhelmed by the different choices, brands, and formulas. Thanks!
Sandrine Pelissier
Thanks Diane 🙂
As a fixative I like to use Krylon workable fixative in my mixed media works because it works very well on different media including Watercolor or ink, and you can rework once you sprayed as many times as you want.
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lesliepaints
I really like seeing the stages of your work, Sandrine. I see, I think, that all those first layers contribute to the fullness you achieve, in the long run, in your finished paintings. I like this series very much. I had seen two of them, previously and the two you have added are great, also. What I like the best about your series is that they are different, but all look great together.
Sandrine Pelissier
Thanks Leslie! I noticed that whatever the media I use I am now almost always working in layers, because I get better colors and interesting edges. I can’t go to the studio most of July and August because my kids are at home, so I miss painting 🙂 Anyway I found that usually taking a break is good for painting, you get back to it with more enthusiasm .
I really like the new works you are posting on your blog, gorgeous colors and textures. Makes me want to add a bit more collage on my paintings!