"The Floating World" # 12 x 24 oil This time of the year, the waterlilies are in bloom. The lotus flower is spectacular, to begin with. They are harder to paint than I would have predicted because they, like clouds, appear at first glance to be all white; closer examination reveals that the petals are defined by the colours they reflect and their tiny imperfections where some insect has taken a bite; their centres stand as stiffly as soldiers and glow with a yellow that painters will identify as cadmium yellow deep.
The leaves, however, are even better! They reflect the sky and the flowers; these ones begged for the laying in of Prussian blue glazes. And they forced me to learn how to paint water droplets. My father bought a print when I was a child; the artist had painted a rose with a perfect droplet beside it and Dad endlessly admired that detail. As a result, I felt daunted at the prospect of trying one. It turns out that a drop of water has two predictable characteristics: it casts a shadow, and it always has a spot or two of reflected light, as your pupil does. And while a droplet tends to be rounded or globular, its shape is ultimately determined by its circumstance, as in the case of the upside-down heart in the upper right.
I remember trying to bring waterlilies home, always failing and feeling like an assassin. This is much better.
The leaves, however, are even better! They reflect the sky and the flowers; these ones begged for the laying in of Prussian blue glazes. And they forced me to learn how to paint water droplets. My father bought a print when I was a child; the artist had painted a rose with a perfect droplet beside it and Dad endlessly admired that detail. As a result, I felt daunted at the prospect of trying one. It turns out that a drop of water has two predictable characteristics: it casts a shadow, and it always has a spot or two of reflected light, as your pupil does. And while a droplet tends to be rounded or globular, its shape is ultimately determined by its circumstance, as in the case of the upside-down heart in the upper right.
I remember trying to bring waterlilies home, always failing and feeling like an assassin. This is much better.
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