Unidentified Calla, pastel, 14 x 11aka: Calla from my other Planet
It began as a calla from a photograph--I ditched the photo. After looking at hundreds of calla images of all colors on Google, I went with my imagination. Why not?
My book on using pastels is in hiding; reviewing might have helped--this is my second pastel work and it's on Ampersand pastel panel. I worry that if I sneeze this painting will disappear.
Do your eyes go directly to that red sphere? Thanks to today's entry "Balance: Weight and Direction" on Kathy's blog, I now know the reason--actually, several reasons. My thinking was much simpler: "Hmm......I think I'll use that red pastel and make Mars."
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The lily is lovely. good to go to the imagination, a thought i just had earlier regarding a painting i'm working on (the commission piece i mentioned in my blog). at this point it is stiff, not true to my creativity.
ReplyDeleteand yes the eye does go to the red sphere, a lesson i teach my art students about
composition, often we intuitively know when something isn't right in an artwork. Kathy's blog gives words/answers to the problems.
oh yeah, i tried two twenty minute challenges today, both at school, both of students at work. i'll try to post them tomorrow on my blog-eventually I'll enter Kathy's challenge.
love your work, writings, humor and thoughts. you always cheer me up!
Thanks, Indigomar. I haven't managed the 20-minute challenge yet; I've looked around and every part of my house seems too cluttered. Rather than clean, I may try it in our little guest house out back--that stays rather neat. Or, I could check into our local motel for 30 minutes--that would be great for gossip! I'll look for your work.
ReplyDeleteWow - HW - this is a great painting! You were right to work from your imagination. The lower white swirls lead the eye to the yellow edges which leads right into the red circle. Masterful!
ReplyDeleteBoth of you should enter the twenty minute challenge! It will be fun, and not a competition with others. Rather, it's a way of challenging oneself. HW- checking into a motel for a half hour is too funny! Tongues will wag.
Kathy, thank you, thank you, thank you. I plan to enter the challenge; it will be fun. (The motel is only four blocks away.)
ReplyDeleteI love the glow of the yellow against the purple "sky". The white swirls take me gently up into the flower which then points to Mars. The one thing that troubles me, and I think this is what stops my eye at Mars, is that there is a tangent where the arc of the circle intersects where the two petals meet. If my eye didn't stop there the continuation of the petal curving down would have taken me right back into the composition. The yellow is almost strong enough to take me back in, but the strength of the red, coupled with that tangent stops my eyes cold. Don't get me wrong, it's a wonderful piece that I really like a lot. I just wanted to weigh in on why my eyes went to Mars and stayed there. -Don
ReplyDeleteDon, thanks. Yes, that spot bothered me. I spent last night fiddling with it in Corel Paint; haven't decided yet whether to just make the red sphere larger or move it towards the left. Do planets orbit counter-clockwise?
ReplyDeleteI found my books on pastels--and two on encaustics, two on acrylics, two on David Leffel, and many others. They were hiding in a container labeled "instructions."
Isn't the computer the best design tool ever? We get to play with our images with no fear of messing up. There's always that Undo button. I sometimes wish we had an undo button in life...
ReplyDeleteYou are the creator of this lovely galaxy, so you get to determine which way your planets will orbit...
Glad you found your books. Sometimes putting things away where they belong is the best way to lose them...
-Don
Maybe there is an Undo button in life--we mislabled it "dementia."
ReplyDeleteEverything has been said about your painting. I'm just checking in to say hi for the first time and let you know that I love you sense of humour. You make me laugh. I look forward to following your work and comments.
ReplyDeleteHi Margaret. Your blog and Kathy's blog make me to think. I spent most of yesterday wondering how you could possibly convey so many disparate feelings in one painting of daylilies.
ReplyDelete