How to Paint Flowers in Oil

Use the pen to note each base color by writing the name of that color above the paint. The foundation paint should be set across the top of the palette in a row so you can make your mixes underneath each one.

Mix your values with the palette knife. Scoop half of the cadmium yellow from your palette and place it underneath that color. Add an equal amount of white to the yellow and mix it with the palette knife. Separate that color in half and place it below the first mixture. (Each value will go below one another.) Add white to that mixture and mix again. Separate that mix and add more white. Cut that mixture in half and mix it with white. You will have five piles of yellow paint, each one lighter than the next.

Separate the green in the same way you did the yellow. Add a small amount of cadmium yellow and a smaller amount of white to the green. Mix it with the palette knife. Wipe the palette knife well between mixing so the colors won't become contaminated by one another. Separate that mix and add more white for a third pile of paint. Mix it so you have three values of green: dark, medium and light. Mix some of the black with white until you have a medium to light gray. Separate the burnt umber and mix a small amount of black, green and yellow, adding a larger amount of white into the pile so the color will become a muddy brown.

Draw flowers onto your surface. Add some leaves. Use a #10 flat brush and dab burnt umber onto the background, leaving empty spaces. Wipe the brush and add the muddy brown mixture to the empty spaces. Take the mop brush and pat blend the colors, starting with the light colors first and moving slowly into the darker areas. Wipe the brush often to maintain the values. Add some of the medium green mix if desired for variation.

Start the flowers by placing dabs of white closer to the center. Gradually dab the yellow values toward the outer edges of the flowers, moving from light to dark as you get closer to the outer edges. A touch of gray alongside the outer edged yellow will help define the flower petals when blending. Blend the colors, starting with the lightest and moving into the darkest using a clean brush. Wipe the brush often.

Paint the yellow flower using a group of the yellow values. The lightest value goes in the center, the next value up from that goes around the lightest, the next to the darkest yellow value circles that and the darkest yellow value surrounds it all. Start with the lightest value and blend outward, wiping the brush on a towel as you blend. Tap additional white onto the petal areas that you feel need to be lighter. This is where the light source would strike the flower petals. Finish the petals by overstroking them with a touch of white using a flat brush. Pull the stroke down toward the center on a curve.

The centers are cadmium yellow with small stroke lines of orange, which will appear as stamens. Place the lightest green value into the center of each leaf, leaving space for the vein. Surround the outside of this value with the middle green mixture. Place the vein and shadows onto the leaves using the original sap green. Blend outward, wiping the brush as you go. When blending is complete, add more sap green if needed. Use the lightest value of yellow to highlight each leaf where the light would strike it.

Sweep the tips of the brush over the leaves toward the center from both sides of the leaves. This will make the leaf appear to flow inward. The lightest edge of the leaves should be the outer edges except where they tuck underneath one another or sit under the flower. To assist in the drying process when finished, take the painting outside and spray a light mist of matte spray over the surface.