Essence of Astilbe

I am an avid gardener and Astilbe are some of my favorite shade plants. The upright shape and the colors are stunning when they bloom in early summer, and the upright flower stalks are interesting even when the tiny colored flowers lose their color. This painting was created on unprimed -- or raw -- canvas, thereby allowing the fluid acrylics and inks to move on the wet canvas much as watercolor moves on wet paper. After the initial underpainting was finished and when the canvas was dry, I used Golden's Glass Bead Gel to created the essence of the tiny flowers that comprise the Astilbe. I then used a palette knife to gently apply color to the Astilbe blossoms, which created a lovely three-dimensional effect.