Signs of Spring

Recently, as in the last year or so, I realized that I had a lot of paintings that I didn't really like, but I didn't know why. I think that is one of the most difficult things to do as an artist...to analyze the work. Periodically, I would take them off the shelf and study them, trying to figure out what I didn't like about them and what I would do with them to make them better.

Over the years, every spring I would do a painting of daffodils. This year I had a bumper crop of daffodils, and I decided to pull out the bottom painting and see what I could do with it. The new painting on the top is "Signs of Spring" while the early painting on the bottom is&;"Daffodils and Apricots." I felt there was nothing actually wrong with the apricots, but I just didn't like the color. The orange was driving me nuts. I believe the problem was color harmony. The blue and orange were strong complements and I felt the color distracted from the more subtle yellows of the daffodils.

Some of the green leaves were nandina, which I finally decided were ugly. I didn't like the drape of the blue scarf either.

So I replaced the apricots with limes, removed the nandina, redraped the blue scarf, brightened up the oriental cup, and redefined the table. I replaced the nandina falling over the table with another daffodil, which helps move the yellow color around. About the only thing I didn't touch was the blue pitcher. I am quite pleased with the result. I think it is much classier and elegant.

Future blogs will be in this same vein, where I take what I consider unsuccessful paintings, and revive them. If I can show step-by-step, I will. To see more of my still life paintings, go to my still life page on my website. Check out my FaceBook page to see what I'm up to. You do not need to belong to FaceBook to see what I'm up to.