Boxwood and Blue

Buxus sempervirens

From all the small bottles I've collected, somehow this little blue bottle keeps finding its way back into a painting. I just really like the square shape and the way light refracts through it almost like a small piece of stain glass or a mosaic with many facets of color.



I started this piece with a very loose grisaille ("griz-eye") to establish my basic structure and design. The underpainting suggests form without being too committed. I knew the only way to get the transparency of the bottle was to glaze with transparent and semi-transparent passages of color. The color stage of this painting went very fast requiring just the slightest use of color to create form and dimension.

Boxwood in Blue Bottle Oil on Panel 8x10

You can find more demonstrations and videos on underpainting techniques by looking under "labels" in the side bar or following the links below. You can find all of my instructional demos on my You Tube Channel, don’t forget to subscribe.

Links:

 Underpainting Techniques

http://jimserrettstudio.blogspot.com/search/label/under%20painting

 Grisaille Demonstration

http://jimserrettstudio.blogspot.com/2010/11/underpainting-techniques-grisaille.html

 Video Demonstrations on my YouTube Channel

http://www.youtube.com/user/jimserrettstudio?feature=results_main

Boxwood - Buxus sempervirens

The American Boxwood Society 

Explore - Question - Learn - - Enjoy, Jim