6"x8" oil on Belgian linen mounted on archival artboard
"You can learn a lot of
things from the flowers, for especially
in the month of June. There's a wealth
of happiness and romance, all in the
golden afternoon..."
- from Disney's Alice in Wonderland
Have you ever been to a place that made you believe in magic? Something about it that took your breath away at the site of it? Turned the corner and there it was....even if only for a moment, then the light changes, the moment forever gone? There's a wonderful botanical garden in Norfolk, VA where I had spent many happy days painting while I lived there...and from time to time when I get to visit there. The rose garden seems to go on forever. In the late afternoon on this particular day, the light was golden...and I knew I'd remember it forever. Made me start humming "Golden Afternoon", from Disney's version of 'Alice in Wonderland' from my 2nd grade days....have a listen:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0lbfEb8MMk
Find yourself a bit of magic, take a walk in a garden; doesn't matter if it's yours or not. Enjoy the light, the shade, the fragrance. Take off your shoes, walk barefoot in the grass....there now, don't you feel better?
While it's wet & unframed:
******Notes for artists: I've had another artist friend ask me about the roses on the picket fence I painted the other day, specifically, what kind of palette knife do I use to get that kind of detail? My answer - the bigger the better. I actually use a rounded tip knife, same one, on almost every painting I do, my current favorite is a Langnickel P-5, the blade is a little over 3 inches long with a rounded tip rather than a pointy one. You can move a lot of paint with that thing, yet still have the edges & tip for detail. Give it a try if you're inclined to paint with a knife....and want to really learn to 'mass things in' rather than 'draw & color it in'.
I'm with you Roxanne - I mostly use one knife for most of my paintings - big and small. For me it is the Loew-Cornell J-5
ReplyDeleteLove this and the rose on fence painting.
Judy