Orchids in a Pot

Now that I'm waiting to get Fred and Nancy's painting into their condo to check for final adjustments, it's time to work on something new. Decided to make a painting for David's bedroom in Florida, which already has a painting of a bougainvillea.  I've been looking at a photo of three orchids in a pot I did at Selby garden which I like very much and might look nice here.  Here's the photo I'm starting with:

First steps, after the drawing, was to make some of the background colors while I wait for a new orange pigment for the flowers to arrive.  I decided to make the pot the original terra cotta cool to accent the orange in the flowers. Who knows if that will work???

Orange Orchids #1

I can see already that the pot is listing to the left so need to fix that. Also, the colors under the leaves need more definition. Well, it's a start.

Worked on the pot, although more is needed, and started in on the background of leaves and spaces. Also decided to make the orchid in the center somewhat larger to counteract the larger size of the pot.

Orange Orchids #2

When the paint on the pot dries, I'll think about adding in some vines across it in some fashion to break up the color. Or, maybe not. 

So the new pigment has arrived and it is a terrific addition.  Went back to work for hours today figuring out the middle orchid (far be it from me to work on the sides first...) Started out looking pretty flat, then I don't know what happened, just waded in and started going for color.  Asked the question, what if and tried some things which worked nicely.  Made me some turquoise and new green, mixed a little with a rose color to get a cool purply color for accents, and there it went.




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Orange Orchids #3

So I'm happy with how this is developing. I see that I'm thinking more and more about color and less and less about the drawing itself and that's so good for me.  It's early to be so congratulatory.  Many more mistakes to go. Maybe this is horrible....

Work is proceeding quickly, now. My goal is to get as much of the canvas in paint as I can and then work the colors.  I see that the greens need to be muted, and the orange color needs a repeat somewhere, so working on that.

Orange Orchids #4

Working in the two remaining orchids and also, getting some orange into the background. Bottom left hand corner is also in need of some refining.

Orange Orchids #5

Next step is to finish the orchids on the sides, fix the top center part of the painting (too bright), and then call it a day!

Orange Orchids #6

A lot of paint has gone onto the canvas since the last photo.  Ran into a problem in the background, which I have now pretty much whited out and will decide when it dries what to do next.  It's not terrible. We'll have to see.

After a pause and looking at the painting, I decided that the background is too pronounced and since the subject is the orange orchids, I waded back in and worked on the flowers and then to suppress the background stems and leaves.

Orange Orchids #7

I let the painting sit for half a week.  Really frustrated with it so far. I waded back in and decided to work more on the flowers, making them larger, adding an extra petal that I hadn't noticed was actually there, making the flowers more dramatic. Then, I decided to darken the background as in the original photo and to make the flower pot a little smaller. There was a full "attack" mode going on with the paint, as I allowed myself to simply pull up paint and put it on without a lot of thinking going on. Sometimes rage makes for a better outcome (and sometimes it just wrecks everything).

Orange Orchids #8

Next step will be to work the background up a little more and clean up the lighter colored petals. Time to add more yellow there. Have to wait for some drying to occur.  Also need to decide if the areas that are grey and black should stay that way.  I'm thinking the contrast might be ok. Think I'm back on track, but tomorrow I may decide that it's awful all over again.


Yes, it's awful. Time to wade back in and wrestle with it.  Decided I need to tone down the orange colors and get some more interest into the background.  Several iterations later, the painting is I think improving: at least it's worth working on.  Maybe...

Orange Orchids #9

What was very interesting to me, was what happens when the painting is tilted on its side:

Orange Orchids #9a

Here, a new pattern emerges (pretending that the flower pot is not there). The orchids form an interesting pattern, and on their sides are slightly abstract.  Thinking about the possibility of covering over the pot with leaves, and then the pattern of the flowers becomes the subject. In this version, the bamboo supports would also be eliminated (they probably will go out even if I don't turn the painting). In any case, I like the repetition on the upper left side (upper right in this version) of the pink/orange coming through the leaves).  

One step in a new direction would be to add more leaves at the bottom of the pot and some intersecting across it, to start to take it out. Might be able to keep some of it this way, no matter which way the painting ends facing.

Also, I ache to break up the orange in the flowers, which would be easier to do on their sides (already started to do that, although you can't tell in this photo-- by adding turquoise and light green lines through the petals).  I see that more is needed, but can't figure out how to do it. This is intriguing enough not to walk away yet and to try to battle the painting into something I can feel good about...

Worked on this for several hours. Although I was sorry to lose the flower pot, which I spent a lot of time painting, I am certainly happier with the new arrangement of the painting.

Orange Orchids #10

Working with the canvas on the side opened up new possibilities for color and form. With that in mind, I moved to finish the painting.

Three Orchids

Ok, so I didn't like all the green in this painting.   I stepped away from this in frustration for several weeks and made a series of abstract paintings which I was very happy about. After several more days of alternating hate and like, I settled on increasing the amount of blue tones and lightening the flower colors.  I'm thinking the painting is completed and  fun to look at (maybe).

Three Orchids