The sun broke through just long enough to shoot tulips in a teacup today.
I love these little teacups made in Occupied Japan, they’re hand painted with such vibrant colors and the flowers are so playfully stylized. Look for more coming up (when their flowers are finally in season).
Now what kind of bird? Here are some from my archives, though I don’t know…
Does it help to know that the tulip symbolizes “perfect lover” and “fame”? Perhaps not, I’ll have to think on it.
Nothing blue about these bluebirds… silhouetted against a winter white you have to imagine their blue feathers and rust colored breast. Imagine the rose pepperberries, the green palm fronds, the brown acacia pods. Imagine they’ll be sun soon and a bright blue sky! Meanwhile there is a poetry in form that is revealed when color is removed from the equation.
Imagine my delight discovering the flock of birds overhead were actually bluebirds! It may be hard to tell silhouetted against the sky like this but I swear that’s what they were and I’ll prove it in upcoming posts (I plan to stalk this pepper berry tree in better light)! In fifteen years of living in California I’ve only had two previous sightings, so this was a real surprise and a wonderful chance to take some reference shots for my paintings (especially helpful if my palette is only black and lavender)!
A little birdie told me to get out my tea cups again! This time it’s a bluebird of happiness alighting upon the forget-me-nots plucked from my garden and an art deco teacup I found at a local antique shop.
I began sketching with my brush and thinned oils directly on the 12 x 12″ canvas.
Sadly, my sweet little drawing was off center and it’s important to me that the tea cup remains dead center in this series of little square paintings, so I wiped it out with a cloth and began again – this time measuring out my center point with a little dot.
Happy that I had my tea cup centered, I began to develop its volume using warm and cool hues and light and dark values.
Next I wanted to make sure my bird was going in a good direction, and blocked the blues. I started to work in bits of the background and flowers, working the composition and color story.
Not forgetting the forget-me-nots, I began layering them in behind and over he bird and draped over the edge of the saucer. This helps to develop the illusion of a depth of space. It’s pretty and light with bits of white showing through.
But I want to sculpt the image with shadows, anchoring the objects with a sense of gravity, so I layered in some darks. Tomorrow, more highlights!
Oh I’ll be thinking of a title too – I have the working title of Forget-me not Tea and Feathers, but maybe I’m also thinking along the lines of Souvenir of Happiness, or Remember me Blue….
OK, I didn’t see this coming yesterday! Today I woke up and wondered what my bluebird would look like with the rust breast of the male. It was a brave decision to make as I was pretty in love with the very simple color palette going on, but I thought this color break in a sea of blue might add a focal point and help the bird pop. Maybe I’m not so brave – it’s only paint after all!