Brassy Tulips

I had wanted to paint tulips for some time, and Spring is the obvious season, when they are available in many shades and stripes. These copper-colour blooms caught my eye and I could imagine them in one of my brass jugs that was waiting to be painted.
I could not get the arrangement I wanted as the flowers were standing upright, so I took the water out of the vase and caught them when they started to droop.

The pastels used were a mixture of Rembrandt and Sennellier; the shades were yellow and gold ochres, some light oranges, and some orangey pinks. The blossom on the left is in shadow more as the light is from the right. I started with a light block in of approximate colours and values with hard pastels and pastel pencils.

I started to block in the background in order to get a feel for lights and darks once the flowers were nearing completion. I can't do it too soon as I will certainly dirty the light colours inadvertantly.

Time to start work on the leaves and vase. The greens were an interesting mix of bronze greens and blue greens.

The brass goblet on the left was quite in shadow, and barely registered in the set-up. I decided that I has to lose the edges both right and left to achieve the effect required.

Nearly done; but something not quite right - maybe too much empty darkness on bottom right? And of course the reflections were not complete.

“Septet for Brass” © Niall O’Neill

Time to stop. I added the fallen petal, even if it is a bit of a cliché. The reflection of the goblet was barely visible in the set-up. Believe it or not, it is exaggerated in the painting. Pastel on Clairefontaine Pastel Mat, about 24 x 18 ins.