Tulip Flower Painting – Open Tulip

Step by step guide for tulip flower painting

This tulip flower painting is the second painting in the Floral Paintings series called “Open Tulip” which was done in an Abstract Realist style. The painting of a  real life Tulip with the compositional focus on the elements and principals of design. I started with a base outline of my flower and then lay out the bold and bright colors. I knew this painting needed to be done quickly and relied on my brush work. It would loose it’s delicate appearance if I overworked the painting.

I found a treasure when I took this picture of the open tulip flower. The natural swirls and vibrant complimentary colors emote a natural abstract design.

With a sketch, you outline your composition and those elements you want to focus on while painting, such as the swirls of the tulip leaves and the shape of the flower petals.

Acrylic paint is immediate and does not allow for multiple layers of paint. Begin with the focal point of your paintings and work naturally out and around the focal point.

I very quickly created the lines on the leaf and moved into the background lines to tie the composition together. I later manually cropped the painting to eliminate the feeling of the image falling off the page. Fitting closer to the original composition.

This Tulip Flower Painting reminds me of the work of the artist Georgia O’Keeffe. I, like her, went looking for inspiration in nature. I was startled to find these beautiful natural design elements in this flower. Created by the wind a snow storm and finally the sunshine waiting for my discovery

 

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