Last of the Summer Magnolias

Last of the Summer Magnolias

40x40 cm
Acrylic on boxed canvas

I have a beautiful Magnolia Grandiflora in the garden that is over 10 metres high but I have never completed a painting of the magnolias. Towards the end of summer I thought 'Oh no I'm going to miss it again' so I immediately picked one and plonked it in a jug. It was just past it's prime but as the last one left I decided to go ahead.
I used a black boxed canvas, sketched the design using a white watercolour pencil and started to block in the darks and lights.

 

 Followed by a few more and gradually adding more colour.

This is with more local colour. It always looks quite scary at this stage.

I added more and more white and colour gradually lightening the petals, the next photos show the coming to life of the flower.

 

 I used white gesso to smooth out the form of the petal, and also mixed it with some shadow colours to soften up the graduation from light to dark.

 

I wanted to get the feeling of the heaviness of the flower but to show it's beauty was already disappearing. I hope I achieved some of that feeling.