Title and Medium
Love is Beautiful, 8x10" canvas board, oil painting.
I used Naples yellow, cadmium red, cobalt blue, yellow ochre, Windsor orange, Payne's grey, raw umber, terra verte and sap green. Naples yellow is a wonderful creamy buttery yellow, I highly recommend adding this color to your palette.
Artist's Statement
I wanted to paint something that was light and luminous; something that represented love. I also wanted to keep in mind that one purpose of this project was Valentine's day symbolism. For me, I love orange roses which remind me of my wedding flowers.
I had set up a still-life last September -- photographing it but never painting it. I ended up cropping just a corner of the still life -- the daisy in the blue vase and the two roses. Somehow that composition worked more than the entire complex still life that I had tried to create last year. This painting turned out very much Impressionist/ representational both qualities which I love.
What I'd Do Differently
- Overall, I am happy with this painting. I like that the colors are light and Impressionistic and I like the blue vase with the peachy orange roses. Hard to tell in the photo, but the greens came out really well, their dark and light contrasts really make the composition cohesive. If I could change one thing, I would keep the roses a little darker, more orange. They turned out a little too light. Although I have to say the photograph doesn't capture the luminosity or contrasts of the painting.
