Acrylic Tulip Paintings – Dancing Tulip Tutorial

Acrylic painting tutorial was inspired by my “Canvas Painting Ideas” article.

Acrylic tulip paintings can be done in a portrait style. The classical understanding of a portrait is the depiction of an individual person usually from the shoulders up. Any composition that focuses on any one object, person or thing can be called a portrait. This acrylic tulip painting highlights the one dancing, moving and sympathetic tulip. The curved yellow tulip stands out from its surroundings. It appears to be moving and gesturing .

 

Finding the Composition for Acrylic Tulip Paintings

 

I drew two thumbnail sketches (quick drawings the size of your thumb length x width) to find the composition. Since I was attempting to bring one tulip forward out of the crowd I needed to make sure I kept the tulip focused while depicting the surroundings, telling the story of the yellow tulip. I did this by centering the tulip and adding detail with shadows and highlights. I also had the lines of the leaves and the other tulip stems curved inwards towards the center tulip. Resembling the behavior of people in a crowd when looking at a person who has drawn their attention.

Acrylic paintings dry quickly, it is very hard to correct a mistake once it has been made. It is important to draw a detailed sketch in order to place the objects and the shadows on the canvas before you begin to work on any one of your acrylic paintings.

 

Under-Paintings

I blocked in the yellow on the tulips in the under-painting. I mixed a light and medium shade of yellow then added an acrylic medium to thicken and to extend the drying time. The extended drying time allowed for the paint to move around the canvas.

 

 

 

 

Brushwork

I added a dark yellow and white to the medium yellow shade on top of the under-painting to create a three-dimensional effect. A black and a darker shade of green brought out the deeper shadows in the tulips, stems and leaves. With my angled brush I added white highlights in long sweeping motions. That gestural brushwork on the top layer is what creates the feeling of movement and dance.

Stepping Back

I stepped back and examined the painting for balance. Looking for the overall pleasing balance in the textures, brushwork and areas of light and dark. In this painting I saw that there was a lack of balance in the dark areas or the patches of dirt that are seen peeking through the leaves. This unbalanced area gave an awkwardness to the overall composition. I added smaller patches of dark on the left and the right side of the centered yellow tulip to bring back balance.

I created a symmetrical balance with equal weight on either side of the centrally focused subject which was framed on both sides by the background elements.