(left) "Emerging Orchid Triptych" 18" x 24"
Watercolor on Aquabord
Nancy Wernersbach copyright 2010
(right) Sketch for painting
Artist Joe Chierchio gave a talk at a recent Art League of Nassau County meeting on telling stories in your paintings to lift your work out of the ordinary and engage peoples' minds and hearts when they view your art. That's easier to do when painting figures as Joe does so well, but how to accomplish that with florals was my challenge. I gave it a try with this painting. I had taken a number of photos of my cattleya orchid opening. Originally I thought I would have three separate paintings that would hang together to show the opening stages of this amazing flower and so "tell a flower story", but as I sketched it out I liked the idea of the petals breaking across the barrier of the design. A color sketch (above right) was essential for working out this idea. I had planned it for a 24" x 36" size, but ended up adjusting the proportions for an 18" x 24" piece of Ampersand Aquabord which I had handy. I'm not sure if I'm 100% satisfied with this painting (am I ever?) but it was a good exercise and inspiration to try something different.
Happy Painting!
Nancy
2 comments:
Love this orchid painting!
It's inspiring.
Oh my goodness, this is fantastic!!! I love the composition here, the way you have seperated it into three sections on one painting really works!
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