Today I painted cactus. The subject needed good study for its shades of green colour and also the various shapes.
Drawing was difficult for me but this time I made sure I spend time on making a good drawing or the painting will be wasted. I spent about an hr drawing this sketch and getting it perfect before starting to paint. It's very unlikely of me as I usually don't bother to do detailed sketches. But then I forgot to take a pic of the sketch . Realised it a while into painting 😣
By this time I had completed the background.
Painting each stem of the cactus one by one was the best option here. Hence the painting took another 2 hours to finish.
This way it was easy to make sure there was no confusion while painting it.
This painting uses mostly sap green, mixed with indigo and ultramarine for the darker shades and gamboge yellow for the lighter shades. Also used permanent green light for some areas. The flower is painted with yellow orange and vermilion.
Final:
Reference:
Total time:3 hrs
440gsm A3 handmade cotton paper