1. Second in a triptych of paintings with orchids, Cattleya - Florist's Orchid, is a study in green. Unusual in the plant world, the entire flower and the leaves are all green.
A value pattern of shadows and highlights is established with an underpainting of a cool, bluish green. The bright edges of the frilly petals are reserved with a thin line of masking fluid, barely visible as a yellowish, squiggly line.
2. A thin glaze of yellow begins to shift the cool green to a warmer, yellowish-green.
Cattleya - Florist's Orchid
5. After strengthening the shadows further, the frilly edges of the petals are given a touch of pink to pull some of the background color into the flowers.
The Cattleyas are the central figure in the tryptich.
4. As a complementary backdrop to the dominating greens, a loose, swirling blend of colors in the red-violet family enhance the yellow-greens in the flowers. The masking fluid is then removed.
3. The overall color scheme of various greens is quite simple. The light to dark range in the value pattern carries most of the interest in the painting.
Here, more yellow is added and the shadows are darkened which gives more value contrast. The contrast is further heightened by carefully preserving the bright areas in the sunlit petals.
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