Pitcher and crinodendron

This is another painting in my "pitcher" series; this time posed on a chinese hardwood stand, with a spray of Crinodendron hookerianum. The initial sketch is on sand-coloured Pastelmat.

This is the beginning of the block-in. At the same time the dark background is developed in a mix of Sennelier dark blue and dark green - and I'm running out of these pastels. I must order some more!

The crinodendron flowers are a rich red - in the blue-red bias on the colour wheel, not in the orange-red bias. I used quite a selection of tints and shades to get as realistic a rendering as possible. This included Sennelier and Schminke rose madders, madder lake and Bordeaux red, and Caran d'Ache and Derwent pastel pencils. The Chinese stand has my reliable Carbothello pencils and the very soft Blue Earth yellow series, which has some very rich browns in the darkest shades.

I did add some touches on the pitcher after this was photographed, but it's close enough to the finished painting. Finished size 16x12 ins, 40 x 30 cms.

© Niall O'Neill