Daffs 2

Daffs 2

6x6"

Oil

$ 72

(DPW Auction beginning bid $50. Click to bid.)

     Here is another effort at flowers. The daffodils lasted just long enough. Maybe the key to painting flowers is to not paint the flowers; just paint a general shape and let them read as flowers. Some of my favorite flower artists do that. It is just that they do it so well.

     I will continue to work on my flowers, but another element I want to remain conscious of is the color harmony. I want there to be an overall color to the painting. This one is blue-green. Using analogous colors on the wheel will help me just as long as I do not allow the colors of the subjects to be too bossy. The actual color of the little vase here is red. It is probably best to paint what you see, but I had a different goal today.

Daffs

Daffs

7x5"

Oil

$70

(DPW Auction beginning bid $50. Click to bid.)

     I live in the Sierra Foothills where deer eat everything! But they do not eat daffodils. (I wonder why.) 

     I rarely paint flowers because I am a little inept at it, not because the deer have eaten them all. I simply decided I wanted to practice flower painting and there in my yard were those stalwart daffodils, perky as could be, so they became my subject. Now that I have cut them (killed them), I will have to buy flowers if I am going to practice further which I certainly intend to do.

     Flowers make a lovely picture, but they can turn out quite boring if not done well. I am of the school of thought that it does not matter what you paint if the elements of painting are handled in an exciting, expressive, and beautiful way in order to delight the eye. Here's hoping my flowers will cease to be flowers as such so much as a bunch of beautiful lines, colors, shapes, and values.