Monday, October 31, 2016

Courage

Remember this one I started back at the festival? Well I wasn't lying when I said it made me nervous to do the water. I was so worried I'd ruin what was already there that I hadn't dare lay a finger on it in two whole months! Just silly. But I have a deadline tomorrow and didn't have time to get a whole new painting done so crossed my fingers and dove in. I had no other choice really. The photo was absolutely no help, nor would it have been if I could've actually found it. But I remember that it didn't really work for a painting so I had to make it up myself, trying to be true to my style and the basics of reflection. I think it works but I'll have to sleep on it for sure. Happy Halloween!

Commission complete!

Finished and delivered! I think the variety of colors ended up looking nice, and the varying of shapes of the flowers really did make it more interesting to look at. And my customer was super happy so that's what's really important!

Monday, October 17, 2016

So hard!



I apologize for the quality of the pictures but I've been painting this in the family room and didn't feel like dragging it up to my studio to use the better lighting. I don't like the painting enough for that. But it's a commission, which is a blessing. Just wish I had any love for the painting! I had to rearrange so much, combining multiple photos and that's so amazingly challenging in a tight, detailed piece like this! You don't want to know how long I spent just staring at the photos! I then spent a whole evening drawing it.
However, a week later when I took it back out to begin painting, do you think I had any idea what I had done? Which color flowers were to go where? Which flowers from the photos I'd drawn where? Oi! So then I had to again consider which colors looked best together, how to squeeze a good variety in there but keep it balanced. I had to consider composition and variety of shape and size and all that. Oi! I don't really have the brain power for that after a full day of parenting! And how to paint shadows on yellow flowers without making them look dirty. And then, what the heck to do with all the negative space after I've moved everything all around, which requires a tightrope walk of making stuff up and painting what I see. Oi! Oi! Oi! But like I said, a commission is a blessing. Now here's hoping I can manage to finish it!

Tuesday, October 11, 2016

Lilacs complete

Here it is finished:
Interesting how much that green background changes it. I think because of how much yellow is in it, the background even manages to warm it up a bit. It certainly helps the flowers pop foward.

And go here to see the time-lapse video of me painting it. The video is a little bit longer than usual because all those tiny flowers take a long time to paint! No big swashes of space to throw color into quickly. Darn details.