Anna Maria Hibiscus

Anna Maria Hibiscus, Gouache on Arches, 7"x6"

Other than quick washes in a sketchbook, I have not worked in watercolor for years.  I'm interested in developing wc skills because I want to work in color when we travel.  This piece is done with gouache, though, because I thought it might suit my oil painting habits.  Tomorrow I am taking a class in watercolor to understand better how to maintain a palette, how to develop color with washes without turning the paper to rubbish and how to maintain that wet, glistening quality.  Recently I saw Sargent's watercolors at the MFA.  They were so similar in both technique and surface that I thought gouache might just be the medium for me.  

Hydrangeas

Hydrangeas, Oil on Board, 12"x12"

I've been bothered for some time with the two blossoms that sit directly above the center and a little to the right.  They just feel too big, too close to the center blossom.  They seem to throw off the balance and unity of the piece.  To address that a bit I added leaves around them.  I'm still not sure they should belong. Below is a version edited in PhotoShop to see other options.  

Hydrangeas

These images represent the last 3 working sessions.  They are also a good look at how the light in the room can effect the photograph.  The top 2 images are closer to the true colors.  The days are quite gray and dim which causes me to use artificial lights in the studio.  This doesn't impact my color as much as it does coverage.

Hydrangeas

Hydrangeas, Oil on Board, 12"x12"

This is a quote from the an article John Yau wrote for the online magazine Hyperallergic.  It references Richard Van Buren's sculptures. 
Van Buren’s understanding of time is what sets him apart from his peers. His works are not about the timeless present (Judd and Dan Flavin) or the body (Eva Hesse), nor do they reference art history — Jackson Pollock’s poured paintings, for example. Rather, they acknowledge that time shapes us into forms that we may be unable to recognize, which, if you think about it, is a rather disquieting perception of infinity. 
Deeply, I think this refers to more than our bodies.  Our characters form into qualities that would have shocked us as children or young adults.  Sometimes this revelation is a pleasing one, sometimes not so.  
John Yau was a writing teacher when I was at Bard. And, as a poet not a painter, he was a wonderful critic and would astound me at his insight into both the aesthetic and plastic elements of art. John would probably find Hydrangeas uninspiring, boring and commonplace.  

Hydrangeas

Hydrangeas, Oil on Board, 12" x 12"

I spent about 3 hours today on the left side of the center blossom.   The petals on each are much smaller than the previous painting's petals.  I'm having trouble blending such small areas.  I'm afraid it might look more illustrative than I want.  

Hydrangeas

Gwen and Maggie

Maggie, Oil on Board, 6"x9"

Gwen, Oil on Board, 6"x9"

These two oil sketches are of my nieces, Maggie and Gwen Gunnels.  They are always interested in my paintings.  They live many miles from me, but write asking me to draw something and mail it to them. They are twins and wanted drawings for their 12 year November birthday.  I decided instead to give them these little paintings for Christmas.  (They got fancy hair bows for the birthday.)

The boards were salvaged from an old painting which accounts for the pentimento background.  There is also some of that in the hair.  I was unable to use it in the faces because the pentimento obscured their likenesses.