Painting 38

 

I love the Hibiscus flower and the one I had for years died one winter when I was too lazy to drag it into the house. Served it right for getting so big. I hated losing that plant, but I have another one growing and the blossoms are yellow, which I like better than the red. This particular flower was growing in Port Aransas in a park at the marina. I was vacationing in a travel trailer with mom and dad. It was cozy, but we had a great time as we always do. The bush was huge and full of blooms and the sky was a wonderful shade of blue. It was a hot, bright day and these flowers were spectacular. The painting was done for a fundraiser, so I gave it away. I promised I'd give something and I had to paint it fast. I went to the fundraiser and was surprised and dismayed to see it hanging sideways. It just seemed obvious how it should be hung, but I guess it's my fault since I didn't place a hanger on it nor did I sign it. I don't have any clue as to how much it sold for and I doubt I want to know. They tend to practically give these things away at these silent auctions, so it's best not to ask. It's for a good cause, so I have to check my ego at the door. This was a gesso board, not a canvas and once again I loved the feel of the brush on the surface. It had a nice deep wooden edge to it, so no need for framing. Notice that it's another close-up detail of the subject matter. Seems that's my running theme, at least until the next painting. I wonder who purchased this and what they did with it. I hope it wasn't kindling!

Painting 34

Flowers, fun to paint and a little more forgiving. You add an extra side to a building, or extra finger to a hand (sorry Mark) and people notice, but with flowers, you can be a little loose and if you add another petal or 2, who's going to notice, unless maybe its a Marijuana plant or something. I enjoyed painting the Zennia and during a trip to the hill country to visit Gail's amazing lake house, we were lucky to find the cacti in bloom. We jumped from the car and ran from bloom to bloom for about 30 minutes snapping photos. There were orange flowers and yellow ones. I was drawn to this particular image because of the composition. I learned from the water lilies the importance of getting a good composition and I felt this was one of the best. I edited the details a bit to place the focus on the blooms. I thought it worked well. I think I'm starting to see the values better and did get some good play on the darks and lights. I think my blooms are a little over saturated in some areas and I need to plan my use of color intensity better in order to get a good balance and focal point. Perhaps some lost edges and less harsh lines would also help soften the feel of the flowers, especially with the blossom in the background.

I had the nerve to sell the painting to my mother. It's nice that my family wants my work on occassion, and I feel a tad bit guilty for selling it to my own mother, but she'll give me money for no reason because she's just that way, so why not take the money and give her something in return.