From the Artist: I think I'm back to not liking to paint flowers. As much as I love looking at them, trying to paint a realistic flower is frustrating. I was trying to match the color as closely as possible as well as implying soft ridges. This does not look anything like a carnation, but I always learn something by doing these monthly projects. This month I learned that I really don't enjoy painting flowers.
From the Painting Guide: Not every painting is going to be a masterpiece, but every painting will teach you something. If you hadn't attempted the project you wouldn't have learned that painting flowers really isn't your thing.
That said, I think there are some beautiful things happening in this painting. There's a lovely sense of depth to the petals, of them growing out from the stem. The pastel highlights on the petal edges convey texture and are wonderfully painterly. Sure, it looks more like a rose to me than a carnation, but usually someone viewing a painting doesn't have the original flower to compare it to, so as long as the title didn't say "carnation", they'd never know.
Things to Consider When Looking at This Painting:
Background: The background feels incomplete to me, and the patches of white and blue fight for my attention, pulling my eye away from the subject (flower). I like the light blue you've selected as it makes the dark reds of the flower seem even darker. It also links into the purpley shadows within the flower (red and blue of course mixing to make purple).
Composition: If this were my painting I'd eliminate the little sliver of leaf at the bottom, and just have the stem running straight and off the edge. I find it a distraction and it doesn't add enough to the personality of the flower to justify being there.
From the Painting Guide: Not every painting is going to be a masterpiece, but every painting will teach you something. If you hadn't attempted the project you wouldn't have learned that painting flowers really isn't your thing.
That said, I think there are some beautiful things happening in this painting. There's a lovely sense of depth to the petals, of them growing out from the stem. The pastel highlights on the petal edges convey texture and are wonderfully painterly. Sure, it looks more like a rose to me than a carnation, but usually someone viewing a painting doesn't have the original flower to compare it to, so as long as the title didn't say "carnation", they'd never know.
Things to Consider When Looking at This Painting:
Background: The background feels incomplete to me, and the patches of white and blue fight for my attention, pulling my eye away from the subject (flower). I like the light blue you've selected as it makes the dark reds of the flower seem even darker. It also links into the purpley shadows within the flower (red and blue of course mixing to make purple).
Composition: If this were my painting I'd eliminate the little sliver of leaf at the bottom, and just have the stem running straight and off the edge. I find it a distraction and it doesn't add enough to the personality of the flower to justify being there.