I came across a photo I took some years ago in Cuba and it made me smile. Pulled out my gouache set and took a stab. It turned out too precise, but I’ll try to be looser next time. It was fun anyway.
This hibiscus was growing in my sister’s yard. I generally shy away from screaming colors but, hey, this one was trying SO hard I just had to snap its portrait and paint it. We may need sunglasses for this one!
Neon Hibiscus. Oil on Primed Arches Oil Paper. 20″ x 8″.
Reference Photo
For my next painting I decided to channel friend Helen Gallagher with some BIG flowers, painted from life from a bouquet a friend sent me for Mother’s Day. Haven’t ever done any large scale, straight-on flowers. I don’t think I captured the color of the shadows very well. I’m also not crazy about the composition, but it was a good experiment. I used the palette knife a fair amount, but not for everything. . . .
I painted from life rather than the photo below — which I snapped to record what I was generally looking at while painting.
Yellow Lilies. Oil on Primed Arches Oil Paper. 8×10.
Reference Photo