Holy Spirit Orchid Timelapse

This is a Holy Spirit Orchid, so named because of the image of a white dove in the center of the orchid.

Holy Spirit Orchids are also called the Holy Ghost Orchid and the Dove Orchid. 

This Painting Commission

When I first mentioned, to a lovely lady in my life, that I was going to paint a white orchid, she said, “OH, that is going to be SOOOOO…” 

I waited. 

“…DIFFICULT!” 

Well, I was not expecting that! She was referring to how tricky values are when you are painting a white subject.  But even if it’s tricky, that gave me so much motivation. 😜

My Process

I sketched the entire painting and painted the background a dark green.

I then used green, blue, brown, yellow, and red acrylic paint mixed with white to paint the inside of the orchids. This shows the reflections of what surrounds the orchids.

I used white airbrush to block out the background areas and to prepare for color.

Al final I used oil paint. Once I got a wonderful foundation in acrylic, I redid everything and added more depth with oils.

This makes the center of the flower, the white dove, show up.

I wanted to emphasize the shape of the white dove, and it was important to me to get it right because this is our national flower and is a very important symbol. 

Finished Painting of Holy Spirit Orchids!

Signed, sealed, delivered!

Watch a video of the painting here.