Tag Archives: yellow

Tropical botanical paintings – a new work.

Tropical botanical paintings – a new work in oils.

Here is the first of a few new tropical botanical paintings which are the first in a series of works being painted for an upcoming exhibition to be held around March 2015 in the Professional Centre in Coffs Harbour. It’s related to the other three tropical botanical paintings which can be seen in the botanical paintings section of the website. These all have been inspired by my constant visits to Coffs Harbour’s Botanical Gardens, which has been a treasure trove for botanical works over the last decade. This one is called Tropical Portrait 2. Tropical botanical paintings

This painting is located in the botanical paintings section of the website. The details of this painting can be seen by hovering the mouse over the work as the slideshow proceeds. The use of strong reds and greens in the work adds drama as well as a tropical brightness to the scene. The succulent look of the plant is created by layering thin to thick layers of oil paint over a period of time. The hard lines and shapes of this painting contrast to some of the softer focus botanical works seen elsewhere in the same section. The highlights are strong with a minimum of shadows showing that in a tropical environment a strong light can dominate a scene without causing the colours of the scene to be washed out.

I hope to exhibit at least forty new works in March in the Professional centre. I also hope to have completed an album of music by this time to play during the exhibition. At this stage it looks like the music may be restricted to being predominantly piano music, although I anticipate some pieces will incorporate other instruments as well. I will attempt to create music which enhances the works on display.

Tropical botanical painting – a new one.

Tropical botanical painting.

 

Three tropical botanical paintings have been completed now. This is the third one is simply called Tropical Design 2. It is located on the botanical paintings section of the website. All the details, including  price can be viewed there in the usual way.

My Masters is near completion and I will be gearing up to do more botanical paintings, and surreal paintings soon. I’m hoping to have an exhibition at the Professional Centre next year. I will include some of my music (probably on CD) at the exhibition.

 

Tropical botanical painting

 

This particular tropical botanical painting was a lot of fun to complete. In order to achieve the glowing yellows, greens, and reds of the succulent I had to build up the paint in thin layers over a long period of time. In contrast, the paint on the wood was able to be painted more quickly using thicker paint. I really love painting these succulent plants because of the glowing bold colours which they contain. The great thing about painting tropical botanical paintings is the brightness of the colours in the works. I can be uninhibited about using paint straight from the tube onto the canvas as this actually helps attain the effects I want to achieve in the painting.

The dullness of the wood in the background really contrasts with the vibrancy of the colour in the succulent plant.

 

Yellow Grove 2 – a new painting.

Yellow Grove 2 – a new painting.

Yellow Grove 2 is a new botanical painting situated in the botanical paintings section of this website. It is a sister painting to the earlier Yellow Grove which is also shown in this section of the website.

The work is more complicated than its sister painting. It reflects the haphazard nature of nature.  The highlights around the flowers suggest that light is infused with the flowers themselves. It is light which not only makes all things visible but here it is light which nurtures and feeds the flowers and the surrounding foliage.

Yellow Grove 2 is more like a dance than its sister painting. The 2 red bugs which provide a colourful break to the greens and yellows which dominate the painting seem to dance with the light, the flowers and the sinuous stems which hold and support the flowers.

There is only joy in this painting. The flowers face different directions like the dancers of a dance hall. Their faces may be soft, but the light fills them with the joy of life.

 

yellow grove

There is a pleasant tension between the background and foreground which slightly flattens the painting but adds to the movement within it.

 

Emerging Joys – a new painting.

Emerging Joys – a new painting.

 

Emerging Joys is another new painting showing at the Professional Centre. Here it is.

Emerging Joys

 

 

 

 

Emerging Joys. 

This painting can be found in the Surreal Mixed Media Paintings section of this website. All the details can be accessed in the usual way.

Like many of my surreal mixed media  paintings this work has been improvised from start to finish. The paintings is built up in layers of mostly oil paint. Ink has also been added to give the work a colourful edge which gives the painting the feeling of joy it expresses. The colours are mostly light. I have refrained from using darkness in the work to help express the happiness and liveliness of the topic.

An emerging joy can be the most pleasurable and exciting of all joys. When we anticipate something good coming the feeling of excitement is often greater than when the good thing actually arrives. The colours almost have a Christmas feel to them and the predominance of yellow helps to make everything glow. Light smothers everything. There are lights atop of lights in this painting.

While the mostly ink forms give the painting solidity and focus they do not dominate the work. Instead they help to bind the composition and keep the viewer’s eye moving around the work. The painting is only a small one which suggest the idea that the most special joys in lift come from the smallest and most insignificant things.