"California Poppies Sing the Blues"11" x 14"
Watercolor, gouche, and acrylic
This began as an attempt at a Betsy Dillard Stroud exercise. Not enough planning and here is where I ended up. I tried to tell myself this is a learning experience, but I'm not so sure I learned much, except reinforcing that I need to plan ahead. Back to the drawing board on this rainy and chilly Sunday afternoon.
18 comments:
I think it is a wonderful way to brighten up our rainy, gloomy day in the Bay Area. I can imagine, your next version will be better because of what you learned with this one. Looking forward to seeing it!
Mary, I don't know what you were trying to achieve in this exercise. However, the top part of your painting is super!
We are so hard on ourselves!
Mary - you created a wonderfully energetic work and I like the palette you selected. Moving the poppy away from dead-center will help, so keep going. It's all about practice, and this will turn out very well :-)
Sheila, thanks for the encouragement. I do agree that doing any kind of art is a geat way to brighten a gloomy day.
Christiane, thanks so much. Perhaps the success I achieved in the upper portion can be carried forward. Yup, we are hard on ourselves.
Kathy, thanks for checking in. How obvious is that -- I know not to put the star attraction in the center and I did! I never even noticed until your comment. Thanks for the help and encouragement.
The poppy looks happy--like it's jumping with joy. I like it.
I really like the orange blue combination!! Perhaps cut the pieces out and collage them in some way? Put that lovely poppy on a card and use the rest as a lovely abstract background on another card.
However- if I had done this- this would be one of my keepers! Maybe write a lovely poem or words from your day right on the piece.
Thanks for sharing! I love your work- even the derailed ones.
i like your flower, nice colors
not sure how ive missed this blog.. some very interesting paintings going on.. love the orangy part of the poppy... keep with it.. you are doing fantastic!!
Hallie, thanks for your kind words. Painting poppies makes me happy.
Pam, thanks for giving me some fresh ideas. All good ones. I will give them some thought and you just might see a reincarnation of this piece.
Lila, thanks for checking in and your nice comment.
Cindy, happy you found me and I will be checking your blog, too.
Mary, you know how I feel about those California poppies.
I say "ANY poppy is better than no poppy at all" lol! I like it. We are definetly hard on ourselves. It's just part of what we do and who we are.
Mary,
I'm thinking about the Stroud exercises in the book I have (I think there's a newer one now) and I'm guessing this exercise was about combining pattern with your work. I could be out to lunch on this hypothesis.
I know from experience that it is difficult to make patterns look like they belongs with a flower. Over time and many attempts I've gotten the hang of it.
Do you record your thoughts and what was learned from your less successful pieces? I always write on a sticky note and put it on the back for future reference. I date both in case they get separated. It sure does make you feel good down the road when you look back on an annotated archive of work.
Margaret, thanks so much for taking the time to make suggestions on this piece. I have not recorded my thoughts in the past, but what a wonderful idea. I definitely will begin making notes and attaching them to paintings.
This piece does not look anything like I envisioned it. Interestingly, I've had some success combining organic with geometric patterns, but the background was going to be more abstract and symbolic shapes. Abstract is much more difficult for me. When things didn't go well I kept piling on paint in an attempt to rescue it.
Barbra, you are a great blog pal. We are united in a common love of the poppy and the beautiful scenery in this part of California.
mary,
the picture is perfect...
beautiful...
You should take your comments to heart, Mary! Everybody found the image attractive. It would make a nice card!
Liyando, thanks for commenting. I left a note on your blog.
Marie, thanks for the encouragement. I will use it for a card.
I have just awarded you the Sunshine Award because I admire your art so much.
Please come to my site when you can to see the list of the other recipients.
I don't want to add to your busy schedule so feel free to pass the award to others as informally as in your thoughts :-)
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