From the Artist: This is a portrait of a flower in its eternal cycle from seed to flower and back to seed again. I was drawn to the most fragile blossom and chose
it over the younger-looking ones. They were all so vibrant and fragrant. Their colors reminded me of fire and I used a lot of cadmium hues in my painting. Painting from life gave me surprisingly little time to capture its beauty but I am happy that my model will continue to live in its new home in my garden.
From the Painting Guide: If ever these was a flower made for cadmium reds, oranges, and yellow, this is it! I love the way you've used the colors, pure in some places and mixed in others, with strong, visible brushmarks giving form and direction.
One of the reasons it's good to paint from life rather than a photo is that you do have to deal with the limited lifespan of a flower. I believe this encourages faster working and decision making, as well as persistence, as you can't put it aside until tomorrow if your painting isn't going quite where you want it to. You either have to persevere, work through to a resolution, or quit (which isn't a good long-term strategy).
Things to Consider When Looking at This Painting:
Composition: Look at how the position, angle, and length of the flower's stem lead your eye up from the bottom edge into the center of the painting. And how the curves on the petal edges (both on the negative space and inside the flower) encourage your eye to move all the way around the composition.
Background: The blue of the background works very well for me as it's a cool contrast to the intense and warm reds/yellows of the petals. The blue makes the background recede, so it doesn't compete with the red flower for attention, it creates a perfect setting for it.
It being painted with variations in color (mixing in some of the colors used in the petals and stem) and with visible brushmarks makes it a visually interesting background, that pulls you in for a closer look. You don't just glance at it once, see everything that's going on, and move on.
From the Painting Guide: If ever these was a flower made for cadmium reds, oranges, and yellow, this is it! I love the way you've used the colors, pure in some places and mixed in others, with strong, visible brushmarks giving form and direction.
One of the reasons it's good to paint from life rather than a photo is that you do have to deal with the limited lifespan of a flower. I believe this encourages faster working and decision making, as well as persistence, as you can't put it aside until tomorrow if your painting isn't going quite where you want it to. You either have to persevere, work through to a resolution, or quit (which isn't a good long-term strategy).
Things to Consider When Looking at This Painting:
Composition: Look at how the position, angle, and length of the flower's stem lead your eye up from the bottom edge into the center of the painting. And how the curves on the petal edges (both on the negative space and inside the flower) encourage your eye to move all the way around the composition.
Background: The blue of the background works very well for me as it's a cool contrast to the intense and warm reds/yellows of the petals. The blue makes the background recede, so it doesn't compete with the red flower for attention, it creates a perfect setting for it.
It being painted with variations in color (mixing in some of the colors used in the petals and stem) and with visible brushmarks makes it a visually interesting background, that pulls you in for a closer look. You don't just glance at it once, see everything that's going on, and move on.