Painting a Lotus Flower

I have recently been hired as a painting instructor and I have been working on materials to use in my classes.  These will be beginner's classes and the student's kits are primary colors plus white.

The vibrations of light that are perceived as color follow a spectrum of wavelength - meaning that they blend. There is no division in nature between what we call red and its neighbor, orange. It gradually changes from one color to the next.  When you mix primaries to make secondaries you are dealing with this blend, this non-exactness. It is an amazing thing to explore... color theory that is.

I begin this painting by laying out all three primaries and the white.  I mix a light yellow to mark the place where the center will be.  Then I mix a light violet using the blue and red and lots of white, just to mark out where the edges of the petals will be.

There is a overlapping in the structure of the twelve lotus petals. it can be imagined as two layers of six also. They stagger like bricks in a wall.  I like to describe this dimension by bringing the viewer edge on to see this. It is done with two simple shadows that are painted in a dullish violet that is almost like "periwinkle" blue.

The lotus grows out of the water. It likes pools that are shallow, but nearly too deep to walk in. They grow out of the mud at the bottom. They are large, striking beauties. To paint this water mix dark blues and purples (dark) with some dark green that is made with dark blues and just a tiny amount of yellow.

Vary the shades as you go around the lotus flower - Think of the translucence and reflectivity of dark water with leaves just under the surface. I always paint the sides of the canvas at the same time as the face. Some people will hang a painting without a frame in a modern environment.

The petals are blended paint that goes from white in the center to pink on the ends and edges. To achieve this, paint a base coat of white paint covering the entirety of each petal. do about half the flower so that the paint is still wet enough to blend. mix a bright pink using red, white and tiny amounts of yellow. It is almost a pepto color you are looking for, it will be blended out with white.

There are yellow-orange highlights to paint into the center.

I hope you enjoy reading this and following along if you choose. If you do paint this one, let me know, I'd love to see it. You can learn this through doing.

grow out of the murk and open up towards the sun and create.
ericklemm@gmail.com