Thursday, March 21, 2019

Greenhouse inspiration

9" X 12" oil painting on stretched canvas

I was inspired by my first trip to the Edwards Greenhouse in Boise.  At first I was overwhelmed by all the flowers, but I saw other artists there so I decided to set up with my little pochade box. I think I forgot all my art lessons and tried to put too much in the painting (see bottom photo).  When I got home I was disappointed with my "plein air" attempt, but determined to keep learning.  I tried again with just a few of the trumpet flowers (below) but felt they were too flat.  Then I added more color and took an old toothbrush to spatter some cobalt blue over the painting to give it some interest.  I had not tried this in oil paint before, but had used this technique in watercolors.  I'm happier with the result now.  This is the first time I have used "permanent rose" as a background.  I was thinking about the expressionist painters and decided to go a little wild. :)



Attempting to put too much on the small canvas instead of just focusing on one or two blossoms.


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