Joyce's Clematis

Clematis are popular flowering garden vines.  You see them climbing along fences, up trellises and among the branches of other plants.  There are over 200 cultivars, which makes it easy to pick a flower color that is perfect for any garden.  Well, any garden but mine.  Clematis never are happy in my garden, and after several years of trying different spots in the garden and numerous cultivars I have given up on this vine.

Joyce can grow beautiful Clematis.  She has several well established plants that each year are covered in masses of foliage and blooms.  Their vibrant colors just scream to be painted.

I masked the central part of the flower so I could use a lot of water and not worry about the white parts of the anthers.  I wet each petal, then used separate brushes to add Quinacridone Rose and touches of Phthalocyanine Blue.  Once the petals were dry I painted the background leaves using a mix of Phthalocyanine Blue and Chrome Yellow.  Once the paint was dry I removed the masking.

I painted the filaments of the stamen using dilute Quinacridone Rose.  Additional touches of Quinacridone Rose, Phthalocyanine Blue, the color mix I learned about in Margaret Walsh Best's class, Burnt Siena, and Raw Umber were add to create shadows throughout the painting.