Forget-me-not Tea I
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Tag Archives: Oil
Painting Pansy Tea for Two
I couldn’t resist painting another Pansy Teacup and Lesser Goldfinch combo. I decided to keep with the ring theme too. I think it adds to the symbolism of the pansy – “Think of me”.
There will still be pattern in the background but I painted in the base first, after my outline sketch. Notice how the hue is warmer closer to the light source then gets progressively cooler and darker further away.
I painted in in the male Lesser Goldfinch right away – I like to make sure I get my main focal point right before I go too far.
The female Lesser Goldfinch is my secondary focal point. Having more that one focus helps to move the eye around the painting.
Roughing in the flowers and teacup and ring. Throwing caution to the wind with my use of whimsey!
The trick from here on out is to balance refinement with freshness. I had to call it a day here and hope that I don’t wreck it tomorrow!
Painting of Rose Tea
It all starts with the teacup. I like a vintage piece with a fabulous form, a little iridescence or gilt (for the light to play on) and, most importantly, a flower or fruit that I have either in my garden or someone else’s!
Then I like to to a bird that compliments the still life. Here I thought an Anna’s Hummingbird would be the right scale and it’s plumage echoes the golds and greens and roses of the cup.
I took many shots of this teacup and rose and while there were aspects about each photo that I liked, in the end I chose this one because of the dramatic side lighting and the fact that there was a space the made sense compositionally for the humming bird to land on the rim.
My initial loose oil sketch tells me if my composition is working or not – I was concerned with this big rose off to one side, but the bird and handle should balance it out well.
I really liked the gold outline of a rosebud and leaves on the saucer and since it doesn’t really show up in the painting, I thought I’d use it as the background pattern.
Building up my darks in the hummingbird and teacup.
Building up the mid-tones.
Working the volume with highlights and shadows.
Filling in the background, hoping the dark color and flat pattern won’t overwhelm everything.
Pulling up more highlights to make sure everything pops against the busy background.
As I continue to work the painting, I try to balance realistic polish with a sense of painterly spontaneity. There are hits and misses along the way as I work on.
I decided to loose the big white rose painted in the background, it was too confusing and distracting. I also decided to put in gradient lighting that would make sense with the light source. I also worked a lot on the teacup and hummingbird, my goal is to really make them glow.
Hey, that saucer’s looking great now! There are elements that I miss from the previous version though, the pink glint on the back feathers and the more dynamic posture of the bird. I kind of like the darkness left in the gold leaf pattern in the background too – It’s less realistic but more interesting. How “real” do I need to be with a hummingbird on a teacup anyway?
Forget-me-not Tea and Feathers WIP
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!
Blackberry Tea I
Silk Threads
Painting Orchard I
I don’t care what the calendar says – once the trees start blooming it’s spring! I just have to set aside whatever it is that I’m trying to will myself to do in honor the season. This week I was inspired by both a trip to a stormy orchard in Saratoga and a landscape painting demonstration given by Karen White at the Los Gatos Art Association. She has a stylized approach to landscapes, not a slave to local color, simplifying forms and rearranging elements at will and using large, flat brushes foe bold gestural strokes.
Well, inspiration is just that – you may start with all kind of big intentions and in the end lead your self down quite a different path, most likely one that’s very familiar. My brushes were not as big and flat as Karen’s but I was thinking in terms of texture and gesture. That is, until my love of the image overcame my desire for spontaneity.
And that’s what makes each artist unique – even when you are curious about someone else’s path you will inevitably follow you’re own!
Dahlia Days
Dahlia Days may be half a year away but today I was able apply the finishing touches to a portrait whose lovely expression remained elusive for so long!
Dahlia Days
Hybrid Tea Rose I
Here’s the newest little rose out of studio and how it came together.
This little rose reminds me of one of the ones made from frosting!
Cherry Blossom Spray
Cypress Crescent
Blue Corset
Odessa’s Kitchen Floor ’20s
Painting Cypress Rock
I hope to capture the precarious nature of life on the margins of land and sea in this painting I began last Friday. I’m using one of the many photographs I took in the summer of the cypresses in Point Lobos as inspiration. It’s just so stunning to see these lone trees clinging to sheer rock face, pummeled by the Pacific! I like how the tree is dwarfed by the massive outcropping of rock on which it clings, rock which has been stripped nearly bare by the ocean. It’s almost a portrait of a landscape in which the skin and muscle has been pulled away to reveal the skeletal structure. Although the cypress symbolizes death and mourning, here I think it is a metaphor for perseverance.
Shell Grave
