Red Poppies with Acrylic Paint

​We created our own seismic riff in the studio this weekend (that's a wink at Taylor Swift) with rooms full of Red Poppies.

In this two-hour course, we painted Red Poppies on a dark green background with acrylic paint.

Here are the steps so you can try it at home. We used Golden Heavy-Bodied Acrylic Paint.

1. Start with a red gessoed canvas.
2. Using graphite paper, trace the image of the red poppies onto the canvas.
3. Paint the darks of the poppies with Quinacridone Crimson.
4. Paint the stems and leaves with a tiny bit of Phthalo Blue and Cadmium Yellow. 
5. Paint the Background: Phthalo Blue + Transparent Earth Red + Titanium White. You can add it to the green mixture from above to make it a little greener. The red paints are more transparent than the background paints, so the line you paint with the background color will form the outline of the Red Poppies.
6. Paint the centers of the poppies with Burnt Umber + Dioxazine Purple.
7. Add another layer of darks to the poppies with Quinacridone Crimson. If you are feeling adventurous, try a thin Dioxazine Purple layer on the poppies' dark parts.
8. Paint the leaves with Chromium Green and a tiny bit of Phthalo Blue. Add  Quinacridone Crimson if they seem too green. We painted them using a Foam Tool with paint loaded on one side. Push hard at the base of the leaves and move your hand up and lift to create a leaf shape. 
9. Add Cadmium Yellow to this mixture for light parts.
10. Add White to the mixture for buds and stems.
11. Clean all your brushes and get fresh water.
12. Paint the bright part of the Red Poppies with Cadmium Red. Add some White for the lighter details.
13. Add Cadmium Yellow for brighter parts.
14. Add your white highlights.
15. Sign it!