I tried to paint some irises that grow on my hill in Michigan. I didn’t want for it to look like a photo but a painting. Greeta says it makes you appreciate Georgia O’Keefe. It does. Somehow the petals didn’t look delicate enough. But I’m leaving it alone. It’s on 140# hot press.
I did like the background though.
I tried the same scene on gessoed canvas. I should have taken a picture of it after I put down the original washes. I ended up with the same problem I had with the original one. I’m going to wash much of the paint away to get to a lighter and more delicate painting. I can wash paint off gessoed canvas.
I agree. It's hard to capture the delicacy of flower petals, even in a soft, fluid medium like watercolor. I love the backgrounds and I think the first one is more successful than you think. I am looking forward to the finished canvas painting. Watercolor on gessoed canvas always seems softer to me, so it's already in keeping with your intention. And if not, there's always Yupo!
ReplyDeleteThe Irisis will pop more in deeper green grass.
ReplyDeleteAlready tried that. Didn’t work. I think that I would have to basically paint every leaf.
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