Iris in Bloom

Iris in bloom is a goauche painting on hot press paper.  My inspiration was the abstract shapes of the flowers in contrast to the shapes of the leaves.

This shot shows the interaction between light and dark interaction in the painting.  Preserving or not painting parts of the paper defines the shapes and the highlights.

 

What you dont paint defines the shapes within the painting as much as what you do paint.  So the question becomes what to paint and what not to paint. 

The interaction between the dark background and the subject is created by deciding what to paint and what not to paint.  The lightest lights are areas where there is no paint

The overlapping colors of the leaves and the dappled light required me to work from the back of the painting to the front.

The shapes of the leaves defining the shape of the background and the shape of the background defining the shapes of the leaves.

Filling in the blanks.  Are the areas with no paint in them defining my vision of this composition or do they require attention?  The middle of the painting feels like the background should come lower into the painting to define the interaction between what is a leaf and the dark emptiness that says what the leaf isnt.

The idea of notan defining the shapes within the painting by defining what the painting isn't.  The negative shape defining the positive shape.

 Here the over abundance of areas with no paint make this area more confusing than it should be.  The idea of the flower shapes are hard to follow because what the aren't is not well defined.  It is like saying what you are is defined partially by what you are not.

SOCALPAPA Quick Draw

Saturday morning SOCALPAPA had their plein air Quick Draw ahead of their annual Back Bay Art Show.  I had gone and painted a couple of times to paint in the weeks leading up to the event.  In preparation for the event I created a fairly extensive checklist of things to do.  The worst feeling at an event is to not be prepared or have all of your essential tools at hand.

I paint quickest in pastel.  My style seems more unique compared to the other mediums I paint in.  The surface I paint on is also unique.  I make my own surface from plywood, pumice gel, and acrylic paint. I believe this gives me an advantage in compositions because I am able to paint larger than my competitors.

Since I had painted this scene a couple of times earlier I was able to improve on my earlier efforts and take what I did best from each painting.  The practice pieces also helped me manage my time.  I worked basically from top to bottom and back to front.  I knew when to paint each part of the painting to catch the light I was looking for because the clouds broke at basically the same time on my practice rounds.

I finished the clouds as the sun broke down the June gloom.  I invested the most time in the background so that my ariel perspective read correctly.  The painting progressed in mark making from small to large.  As time was running out I moved to the foreground and finished in a flurry.  The foreground was so detailed and dynamic.  It could have been intimidating but it wasn't because I purposely don't give myself enough time to second guess my decision making at the end.  I build to a crescendo.

 "Morning Heat" plein air pastel on board 24x24.