Holy Grail Hardy Hibiscus Bloom

Holy Grail Hardy Hibiscus Bloom Painting.

Holy Grail Hardy Hibiscus from Summerific is a perennial plant that features large, dark green foliage and dinner-plate-sized blooms in a rich red. For people who love Tropical Hibiscus flowers but don’t live in the zones where those plants thrive, the Hardy Hibiscus offers nearly identical blooms suited to cooler climates. The main difference between the two species, beyond their environmental needs, is color range: Tropicals come in a wide variety of colors, while the Hardy Hibiscus is limited to white through red hues. Another name for the Hardy Hibiscus is Rose Mallow.

MEDIUM: Digital Painting | STYLE: Painterly Realism | SIZE: 12 x 12 in. | ORIENTATION: Square | TOOLS: Procreate, 13″ iPad Pro, Apple Pencil Pro, Giclée Fine Art Archival paper and ink  | AVAILABILITY: Prints available | CONTACT SHADOWMYST ART

ARTIST’S PROCESS:

Holy Grail Hardy Hibiscus Bloom was painted in Procreate on a 13″ iPad Pro using the Apple Pencil Pro. As with each painting, this piece starts with a detailed sketch of the bloom’s petals and the complex stamen.  The painting begins with color blocking for each petal of the plant and the stamen on separate layers.

An abstract presentation of the profusion of dark foliage of this cultivar was chosen to compliment the mood of the dramatic red of the bloom while also creating a contrast that brought the bloom forward as the focus of the piece.

Taking one petal at a time a fine tip brush at 2% size and 100% opacity was used to detail the veins from the center of each petal to the upper edge. On a new layer above the vein layer shading was added to each petal using the Procreate Copic brush, sized at 2% and 50% opacity blending between the veins controlling the color flow and blending with the brush pressure. For each petal a final layer added the shadows where the petal overlap and selected highlights following the light source.

The Stamen is painted on a separate layer to detail the complex structures involved. Following the detailed sketch several layers were created to progressively add each element of the stamen.

CHALLENGE:

The stamen, a prominent structure in the hibiscus family, presents a challenge in depiction due to its intricate components. After a detailed sketch, color blocking was applied to each element on multiple layers, ensuring the pistil (stem), Style and Stigma, and Filament and Anther were individually rendered.

The pistil, the primary structure, was meticulously painted with the Procreate Technical Pen brush at 4% opacity. Shading was added with the same brush at 1% and 50% opacity, blending outward to create a three-dimensional effect.

The Style and Stigma, at the pistil’s apex, were depicted with the Procreate Technical Pen brush at full opacity and 27% size. Four styles converged at the disk-shaped stigma, each with a second and third pass of color to enhance shadows and highlights.

The filaments, delicate hair-like structures, protrude from the pistil surface. Given their thin and pale nature, the Procreate Fine Line Brush at 1% was used to paint numerous short, thin lines around the pistil. A second layer populated the filament ends with yellow-orange pollen from the Anthers. Using the Procreate Spraypaints Flicks brush, modified to reduce flicks’ distance, a medium yellow color was applied, resulting in small pollen clumps at the filament ends.

Finally, individual layer groups were merged to finalize the depiction of the Hardy Hibiscus stamen.

To enhance the credibility of the bloom, loose pollen was added to the petal surface. Using the same yellow-orange color and the original Procreate Flicks brush at 6% size, the opacity set to 70%, the loose pollen was randomly spread over the petal layers. The pressure on the brush was used to control the intensity of the pollen color, simulating the different light source patterns on the petals.

SUBJECTS AND THEMES:
Botanical — Holy Grail Hardy Hibiscus — Rose Mallow — Summerific Cultivar — Dinner-Plate Bloom — Light and Shadow — Perennial Garden — CONTACT SHADOWMYST ART FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION