Sunday, August 18, 2013

with and without

 

Bought a big mixed bouquet, but decided to tackle only the gladiolas.
 The second one I did first, with no preliminary drawing. I started at the top, and while painting the tops blooms felt I was really struggling against my brush--a very soft pointed round; I could not get crisp edges ... By the bottom blossoms, I was thinking, What's wrong with messy edges?
The top one, I put down a wash, then drew the gladiola over it. I like to draw gladiolas, the overlapping petals arising from the center, and the way the blooms shoot out of the stem.
But I wasted too much energy on trying to get the color of the blooms right--a bright yellow, melding into coral and edged with deep red--when that really doesn't matter. I normally don't care about such precision, but the loveliness of the blooms seduced me.
If I did a portrait of one bloom, I think the color would matter more; these are more about the stem of flowers than the precise color.
 
Posted by Picasa

5 comments:

Judy said...

Both are really beautiful, with just the right looseness!

Celia Blanco said...

Beautiful and fresh Laura! I love the overall feel of both blooms.

irinapictures said...

Beautiful breathing flowers. And color vibrations feel so right.

Barbara Muir said...

Hi Laura,

I thought I left a comment saying these are spectacular. I just love them. But maybe I just thought it. ;)

XOXO Barbara

Polly Birchall said...

I love everyone of these lovely colourful blooms!