Shelly's Gerber by Debbé Medcalf

Photo © Debbé Medcalf

"Shelly's Gerber" by Debbé Medcalf. Triptych 25x35cm each (10x14"). Acrylic on blocked canvas

From the Artist: I liked working on these paintings because it gave me a chance to focus entirely on the actual flower, and nothing else. I learnt a lot about Gerbers in the process. They are not just two dimensional, but have many layers of petals, which I have tried to capture.

From the Painting Guide: An important part of developing as an artist is increasing your observation skills. It's very easy for the brain to go into auto-pilot and over-ride what your eyes are seeing with a generic version created from experience. So while a flower may register as being an XYZ (in this case a Gerber), you're not truly seeing the details of that particular, individual bloom.

By having an actual flower you can hold in your hand, turn around to observe from different angles, watch change as it wilts and die, you're building up your observation skills and experience. If you were working from a photo, your flower never wilts, you can't feel the texture, you can't change your viewpoint.

Things to Consider When Looking at This Painting:
Color: You've (obviously) used artistic license to change the color of the flower from pink to deep red. But I find it intriguing you didn't keep the white of the outer circle in the center but painted it red too. I think this would add another layer or visual element to the composition.

Composition: I've been pondering over it and am still undecided whether or not I like that your diptych doesn't divide the flower right in half. I suspect that if it did, it would be more static, whereas now I find my eye filling in the "missing" bit to make the whole or overlapping the two mentally.