Waterlilies in San Angelo

 

"Waterlilies in San Angelo", 30" x 20". This is another commissioned work. You know I enjoy painting waterlilies, because it is so flexible. It is possible to compose the painting without any references. I have designed the geometry, value, color, and texture of the painting purely in my mind. It is possible to achieve likeness without the subject. It is so oxymoronic, isn't it? I did borrow from a few reference photos to get details, but in general, waterlily paintings are pure abstract. No wonder Claude Monet fell in love of painting them. I do too.

The "Big" Challenge

 

Painting large is a big challenge to me. This one is 28" x 60". The composition was based on a 12" x 24" plein air painting. I used the apps to guarantee the drawing and color (value, and temperature) accuracy. The major challenge was mark making. I tried my best to paint thickly, but the brush and knife work were still not shown the effect I hope to achieve. It will be another research field I will get into. The painting tended to get too detail to quickly. I had to remind myself constantly go far away to see. Nevertheless, painting the large one was fun. I felt I was at the site and created the real world.

Demo at Vermont 1

 

Painting a still life is relatively easy, but making a still life painting interesting is not. The setup for this still life is so simple, but I was so sensitive about how the light travels across all the objects and finally makes the lemon sing. The visual orchestration of all the optical effects makes a still life painting exciting, otherwise still life would be the most boring painting to do.