Siberian Iris

I painted this colorful demonstration for the intermediate students yesterday, on such a gorgeous day we all resonated to the spring colors of this piece.    Please send me your name, email, and phone number if you would like to hear more about upcoming classes catherine@cuttinggarden.com   

After I had all my pre-mixed paints ready to go, I wet half the background with clear water and painted the distant iris wet-in-wet with intense, fairly thick (dry) paint. 
After the first half of the background was completely dry I painted the other half. 

Then, finally on to the "center of interest", the iris that's in focus in the foreground.  Each petal was painted separately, first wet-in-wet and then wet on dry to add the details.  To finish the painting I toned down some information in the background by lifting paint off some areas that had too much contrast and glazing over some bright areas with a neutralizing color. 
This piece is 7" x 8.5" and is available for $125 unframed or $250 framed.