Saguaro at Night Step-by-Step

Saguaro at Night, 6x6"

I'm getting better at taking progress photos of a painting as I paint it, and I thought I'd share another step-by-step with you here.

This is of a saguaro whose photo I took during a morning walk with my camera, right in my neighborhood!  Of course, I put a fun starry night sky in my painting.

Reference Photo

Here is the reference photo.  For the painting I cropped for a square composition.

Map the shadows

The first step I made for this painting was to map the shadows using mixes of Da Vinci Red Rose Deep and M. Graham Ultramarine Blue.

Paint the brownish areas near the spines

I used mixes of DS Goethite, DS New Gamboge, and MG Quinacridone Rust for the brownish areas of the saguaro along the spines.  I think this means this particular saguaro is an older one?

Paint the greens

I used mixes MG Azo Yellow and ultramarine for the greens of the saguaro flesh.  My technique was typically to paint the yellow-heavy mix on the outer edges, and drop in blue-heavy mix towards the more shadowy interiors.

Paint the spine holes

I mixed up some dark grey/near black (I think using DS Indanthrone Blue, Quin. Violet, and New Gamboge) and painted the spine holes and the scars.

Paint the sky

Satisfied with the saguaro for now, I painted in the sky, leaving a light area for the "Milky Way", and warm areas close to the horizon.  The paints I used for the sky are richly pigmented:  MG Ultramarine Blue, WN Winsor Violet, MG Quinacridone Violet, and WN Payne's Gray.

Spatter in the stars

I use Winsor Newton Permanent White gouache and an old 1/4" bristle brush to spatter in the stars.  The gouache is opaque enough for this purpose.  I used a tiny round brush to add more stars here and there.

Deepen the shadows on the saguaro, finished painting

Now that I have the dark value of the sky in the painting, I can more clearly see the values in the saguaro itself and noticed that I needed to darken the values in the inner folds of the saguaro.  I used more mixes of ultramarine and azo yellow, heavy in the ultramarine.

Then I declared it finished!

This painting is destined to be donated to the Scottsdale Artist's School to support the school.  They have a program where they accept 6x6" art from teachers and students, and sell this art for a very modest and affordable price.  The proceeds support the school, which is a small, independently-run school.