Sometimes artists will paint from the same reference
photo over and over again. Perhaps a few know
they have a winner for sale but others, like me,
want to see just how differently they
can render it each time.
And so it goes with these pinky-purple cone flowers...something I find very difficult to render. I'm still deciding if the outcome of the latest was a win or a loss but I can say honestly that I took the dare not to stick totally to the truth!
This is a basic rendering of the lights and darks and I tried to make a few notes as to where my blossoms were to end up. I think I was using up the tail end of a day's left over paint so I knew I had a long way to go from here.
A little more definition of a rock and a much better flow of color in the background.
Now this is when I am so tempted to quit: drab, drab, drab. I like the little yellow-green leaf near the bottom right hand corner....that's all. But "tests" should be pushed until they are beyond salvage and the optimist in me thought I could maybe, just maybe keep on.
Here is a detail of one flower...not too much to brag about but definitely an improvement from above.
Cone Flowers, 12 x 16, oil
Done. At least done for me. Agony in the home stretch and almost wish I had quit sooner and used my time elsewhere. But that's not the point, is it?
Here's a bonus note: take some time, zoom in and find some small spots you do like in this painting: a certain petal, a color contrast, a splash of texture....just look carefully and state a couple of things that you like. There. You have just widened your ability in appreciating art...a very useful technique at a gallery or a museum. You don't have to like it en toto....but try to find something that intrigues you and you will begin to define your own taste.
TAKING THE DARE,
Cindy
