"Apple Tree Blooming" Revisited (oil on linen; 12" x 12") sold

After
sold

Before

"Yellow Tulip Planter" (after; oil, 12" x 9")
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Before

It's been several months since I painted "Apple Tree Blooming" and "Yellow Tulip Planter" last spring.  At that time, I thought they were pretty darn good.  Last week I looked at them; they didn't look that great anymore!  My critical attitude toward some of my old paintings, I hope, doesn't mean that I am turning into one of those sour, unhappy people who are never satisfied with their lives.  It's just that I am growing as an artist and can critique my own work impartially and constructively.

Anyhow I worked on both paintings to see what I can come up with, the second time around.  Can you see what I did?  For one thing, I got rid of the half of a tulip on the far left in "Yellow Tulip Planter."  I don't know what I was thinking back in April!  Many an artist has made the same mistake of painting everything in front of her, in this case, in the photo. 

Lately I started a new habit of bringing a work in progress to the bathroom to look at it in the mirror.  It really helps me to take an objective look at it and I discover lots of awkward things this way--a horizon that doesn't quite match up, a vase with a wrong ellipse, etc.  And that is how I realized that the flower had to go.

Over all, I think I strengthened the composition in both paintings.  In "Apple Tree Blooming," there is also a stronger sense of light bouncing around.  Don't the two spring flower paintings make you feel happy?

"Apple Tree Blooming" (oil on linen; 12" x 12") sold

sold

Reference photo

I love apple blossoms.  The flowers are pale pink and much bigger than cherry blossoms.  What is unique about them is their deep pink buds, which make an apple tree in bloom a lot more colorful than flowering cherry or pear trees.  Last Wednesday,while driving to run errands, I saw several apple trees blooming in a neighborhood about five minutes from my house.  On the following afternoon, I went back to take some pictures.  As I was about to spend the next three days in a painting workshop, I had no time to waste.  Spring was zipping by fast.

It was already an early rush hour; seemingly quiet streets turned into a heavily-trafficked thoroughfare.  I was a little nervous about taking photos of other people's houses in the first place.  I wasn't interested in their houses, of course, just their apple trees.  But if someone inside happened to see me, they would not have known.  You have to be careful these days, you know.  This particular neighborhood didn't have sidewalks either.  The sun was in the wrong angle too.  I took a few shots and got out of there as quickly as possible.

I liked the above picture the best, although it was backlit and cluttered.  The tiny blue vinca flowers ringing the tree, however, were absolutely perfect.  In my painting, no one would guess where I found this lovely apple tree.  A park?  A quiet corner in my backyard?  Photoshop is not the only way to change reality!