W.I.P. Plumeria - 4

After taking a bit of a breather from this over the weekend, I was back at it today and not nearly as bored (grin). I am working with layers in the background, and now that I've begun to give the petals some shape, I can go back into the background and begin to paint some of the leaves in the negative space, pushing back shapes and carving out sharp edges where I want the eye to focus. That leaf in the middle seems to be wanting to take center stage from the others. I had not intended to have so much light right through there, but sometimes the painting takes on a life and its important to recognize when that happens. I'll roll with it. The top left will have layers of leaves in the background as well. I love the way these flowers unfurl. And, I'm falling in love with that new green I'm trying, Azo Green by M. Graham (thanks for sending the samples to try, M. Graham!). Wow! Mix it with phthalo blue and it makes a beautiful sap green. A little less blue and a brilliant and creamy spring green unfolds. And what is nice about this pigment is that I can mix it with Perelene Green or a little Permanent Alizarin and it makes a very dark forest green without it being flat or dull. I always mix my greens and I think this pigment will definitely be a new staple in my palette.