A Gift of Ranunculus and a Cobalt Blue Dress
"Bouquet of Ranunculus" 20” x 24” Sold
Previously exhibited 2016 solo painting exhibition, Thos. Moser, San Francisco
This painting began during a painting workshop when a student brought me a stunning bouquet of ranunculus from her garden. I wanted a cobalt blue back drop and I was wearing a cobalt blue dress. Fortunately, I had a change of clothes in my car. The dress was pinned to the wall and we all began painting.
My mantra - cover the canvas with paint. Let your eyes do the searching for shapes and colors. Don't think about painting a glass jar. But rather think about shapes and colors, light, values and shadows. Be bright and bold, loose and free. Do not censor your work too early. But rather paint  with passion and get some feeling into the paint. Below is my painting after the two hours of work. At that point, it is important to stand back and look at your painting for a few minutes to be sure sure you have a composition that you like. It is easy to change things at this point.
At this point, I start painting with thicker paint. I use my squared off brushes (brights) more like a palette knife than a brush. I can scoop up the paint and lay it in thick or scrub it around if I want even looser brushwork. I think a painting is interesting when there is a variety of brushwork. On a large canvas it is important that the entire canvas is interesting– not necessarily adding more objects, but with the way you handle your paint. As my painting gets closer to being finished, I try not to overwork. Solve the biggest problem first, then stand back and take another look. Sometimes if you solve the worst problem, the other problems go away–-just like in life. |