As an artist I get asked 'What do you like to paint?" That question takes me off guard. Pretty much anything goes as to what draws me to a subject. This week's answer to this question is clearer. "I paint light!" It was the dramatic backlighting that drew me to this bunch of flowers at Renae's Bouquet in Santa Ynez (a favorite spot to pick up interesting flowers and inspiration). The question of how to translate that delicate peach color also came to mind - oh! and that gray/green foliage with the furry texture intrigued me. Hmmm. How will I get that effect?
Maybe it's not all about the light.
Here are the Dahlia's that captured my imagination. I have propped this on an easel in the corner of my studio for a day or so. What I have not done is capture the backlight. Perhaps my subject has gone another direction from where I started? An obvious solution is to drop in a mid toned to dark background around those flowers (risky at this point). That will illuminate the edges where the backlight effect is prominent. The question now? Do I call this finished or drop in a background wash?
Maybe it's not all about the light.
It looks so perfect, I'd be afraid of messing up the painting while filling in the background. Then again you have a much better idea of how to go about doing that.
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