 |
| Still life setup |
I don't know what I was thinking when I started this ambitious still life project in the middle of a busy week. It took four days to finish, and every time when I sat down to paint, there was a different setup in front of me. By Friday, the tulips were dead; the yellow-orange spray of flowers prone on the fabric was long gone. it's good that I had taken the photo as a backup. A friend of mine told me the other day that she was "done" with photos, and I am sure they are an anathema to the purists. But I don't know how I would have completed the painting without the photographic aid. You tell me.
There were two challenges that I had to face in painting "Stilll Life with Pink Parrot Tulips." I chose the brocade-looking fabric, thinking that it complemented the curvy, sensuous feel of the setup. Deciding how developed it should be a puzzle though. In the end I left it at a vague and suggestive stage so that it didn't compete with the main show.
The gerbera daisy vase was another big headache; the fancy bas-relief design was really tricky to render. When I started painting still lifes a month ago, I mentioned something about a simple glass vase wtih a few sprigs of flowers being the extent of my ambition. I should have stuck to my words. On the other hand, how would I grow as an artist if I don't continually challenge myself?
