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.