Before this news becomes too old - the story of this painting needs to be told.
So how or why do I decide to paint a particular image? When it comes to flowers, I'm always looking for a certain 'je ne sais quois'. I like to crop in close and keep playing with the initial image until I find something that seems to resonate strongly with me.
Any old flower won't do. It needs to have a great mix of lights and darks, a special quality of light or colour that makes it stand apart from other images.
In a way, there are always certain elements I am looking for whenever I create an artwork. Simply these elements are:
Space
Weight
Light/dark
Exquisite Colour
However, taken on their own, there is a lot more to each element than meets the eye. There is a depth of consideration that takes place. For example, let's take space. These are some of the questions I ask myself.
What quality does the space have? Is it heavy, airy and light, dreamy, or congealed?
Do the spaces in the composition allow the other objects to breathe or do they feel compressive?
Is the space expansive, or does it contract, what feeling does it give you?
The feeling is really important. I always feel the space, and find there is a connection here to weight also. A space can have weight - it can be light and joyful or heavy and opressive.
My latest floral painting and indeed most, although not all, of my flower paintings began in collaboration with someone else. One of my friends Loretta, owns a flower farm in Queensland, and kindly allows me to use her flower images, which is fantastic. Heres a link to her Instagram page if your interested. She is an artist herself, and knows therefore how to take some wonderful photographs, so Im greatly indebted to her for being able to use her images. Thanks Loretta!
Here are some of her flowers waiting to go to market.
I have created a video documenting this flower's creation into the world of canvas and paint.
NEXT WEEK: Success, failure and other peoples opinions..... my story of what not to do!