Prior to transferring the design to the canvas I prepare the canvas with 2 coats of white gesso, lightly sanding between coats. I use a slightly damp cloth to wipe the entire canvas and get rid of the dust. To prepare the back ground for my tulips I paint the whole canvas with an acrylic light beige colour. I find that bottled craft acrylics work well for these backgrounds.
I have chosen the light coloured background to avoid any conflict or distractions to the tulips
With my tulip composition transferred to the prepared canvas I base coat in the leaves and the tulips with solid colour using the bottled acrylics.
You can see in the following photograph that I have work some lights and darks into the leaves to give them shape and form.
Studio Thirty Eight 