Signs of Spring, step 7

Moving right along...



This configuration and design is much more pleasing and elegant to me. I continued refining the apricots, the vases and the blue scarf. Mainly I was redrawing, lightening the lights, and darkening the darks. I have a lot of new wrinkles from squinting so much.

Since the daffodil is no longer toward the bottom of the painting, there seemed to be a rather blank area. So to anchor the arrangement, I filled in the table rather than have it light and airy. I will find a table with a drawer somewhere in the house and add an interesting handle or drawer pull to it. The handle or drawer pull will serve the same purpose as the daffodil...it will move the eye around and add interest to an otherwise dead and boring area.

Extreme Makeover, Step 6

Adding apricots



The two daffodils in the lower part of the painting were getting on my nerves, so they had to go. I bought some apricots to replace them. I tried several arrangements.



I brought back the decorated vase that I had eliminated earlier. The apricots on the left help move the yellow-orange color around the canvas. So far I like this a lot better. Of course, every time I moved something the blue scarf moved!

I still haven't decided, but I may put some greens on the table. I don't have apricot leaves (since it's not the season for them yet). Also, I may do something to the table. Now that there is no daffodil attracting your attention to the lower part of the painting, it looks a bit boring. We'll see! This painting will tell me what is needed.

Signs of Spring, step 5

Making refinements



I had to replace the nandina, since the last time I painted on this, it has died. I cut some more and added a new piece under the bottom daffodil. I like the way it adds more movement and breaks up the dark brown of the table.

By adding more highlights to the leaves, they are now finished. I worked on the white petal cup which now has better defined values. Achieving the white highlights on the light side of the cup was difficult. I finally took a palette knife and laid down a stroke of white, and then with a brush, wiped away the parts I didn't want. It seemed to work OK.

Using a triangle and straight-edge, I corrected the drawing of the table, which had become a bit askew. I still have the blue bottle to perfect...it isn't quite symmetrical yet. By darkening some of the petals in the lower two daffodils I put them more in shadow, which gives them more dimension.

I will have to redo the background in the next step, which I hope will finish the painting. No doubt I will see other minor things that need more refining.

Signs of Spring, step 4

Adding more nandina, etc.



I added more nandina to the lower part of the painting. The leaves around the lowest daffodil are hard to see, so I will have to change something there. I must remember: "light against dark, warm against cool!"

Adding the leaves to the diagonal stems in front of the blue vase helps.
They are not so distracting now.

I painted the background with a ultramarine blue/burnt sienna combo, adding naples yellow to the lightest areas. I still have more to do on the back ground, but it's a good start.

I also worked on the table: darkened it and refined the table leg.

Signs of Spring, step 3

Adding nandina



After looking at the painting for a while, I decided that the daffodil bouquet needed some filler. I clipped some sprigs of nandina from the front of the house and stuck them in the arrangement. (I find that nandina and grape ivy are wonderful still life fillers.) The neck of the blue vase was so narrow that I couldn't splay the daffodils any better than you see them here.

I'm still bothered by the daffodil stems that transect the blue vase, so I'll have to work at that. I think some strategically placed nandina will soften the lines.

Signs of Spring, step 2

After the cat debacle



The biggest problem in setting up the still life again was arranging the blue scarf like it was before. Impossible! So after playing with it for a while, I settled on this arrangement, which I actually like better than before.

The silk daffodils provide shadow patterns that I wouldn't otherwise have.

I substituted a small lotus cup for the original "vase" for two reasons: The original one was exactly the same width as the dark blue vase Secondly, the smaller one doesn't compete with the others. The "S" curve composition format works very nicely with the flow from the lotus cup up through the daffodil arrangement.

Signs of Spring, step 1

The setup with silk daffodils:



It is spring and my daffodils were ready to bloom. I like to paint an annual daffodil painting, often in a yellow and blue motif. I used silk daffodils to get a rough idea of how I wanted to plan it. I pulled some vases and pots from my still-life "closet," a scarf from a drawer, and, thinking in complements of blue and yellow, came up with the above arrangement.

The setup with real daffodils:



After I was fairly satisfied with the silk arrangement, I substituted the real daffodils, but not for the ones out of water. I had to be stingy with the flowers, since I didn't have many in the garden. I planned on painting the ones in the vase first, then I would take them out of water, and use them in the foreground.

Painting the daffodils:



I spent three sessions on these daffodils, which are now finished. And the daffodils are long gone. The photo above doesn't show them nearly as rich in color as the painting. I am aiming for a neutral blue-gray background to show off the colors. You can see by the differences from the setup photos to the painting photo, the reason an artist should never paint a still life from photos. The camera lightens the lights and darkens the darks so there is a tremendous and unrealistic contrast between the two.

Broken vases:

After the last session painting the daffodils, I returned to the studio the next morning and found the daffodils and the vases on the floor. The blue vase had it's neck broken off and the white one was broken in half. My darling cat Leo had apparently been challenged by the situation and gave it a "go." I have since repaired the vases and will resume work on this painting soon.

Sorry to say I lost last week due to a stomach virus.