Gerbera Re-worked

Gerbera reworked 70cm x 48cm

I have been back a couple of time to the Gerbera and I think that I have sorted out a couple of problems and improved some others.  I have decided to stop fiddling with it as it is in danger of being overworked and loosing any of the freshness it has.

What I have done after the very helpful comments from fellow bloggers and friends is to

• I looked at the shapes as a whole and shaded it accordingly, in the calyx especially it now curves around and works so much better.
• With the petals I also treated them as a whole and lightened the petals as the front and darkened those at the back.  This has helped and I am better pleased with the outcome if not completely happy.
• I didn’t touch the background, have really come to like it.

So it has been a difficult painting but I certainly learnt a lot from it and that is a great outcome.  See below for the First Draft and the final.

Karen

Gerbera reworked

Gerbera first draft

 

First for 2013 or last for 2012, whichever a recalcitrant painting indeed

Gerbera

Some painting just flow onto the page, there may be a couple of hesitations as you consider colour, technique or composition, but they just work.  Calm, smooth and satisfying, like good quality chocolate.  Others do not, you struggle with them, you struggle not to throw them aside, you struggle to get them to work.  This one was the latter, and I am not sure if it has worked yet or not, we need some time apart for tempers to settle.

It was just plain recalcitrant, what a great word, I had to look it up before I used it, just to ensure that I had the meaning right.  My dictionary said

“resisting authority (that would be me) or control, not obedient or compliant, refractory.  Hard to deal with, mange or operate”.

It started out so beautifully, a dear friend bought me a lovely bunch of Gerberas for Christmas and they were so fresh and happy I decided to paint them.  Trying to find a different take on them I decided to paint one from underneath.

My major issues were

• Tricky perspective that hasn’t quite worked in the stem.
• Petal Colour, I really wanted to get the clear soft pink, which I think has worked, but I tussled with the difference between shading and the different colours in the petals.  Still not clearly resolved.
• The background had a couple of attempts, happy with it, but not sure if I like it more than the white paper backgound of my other paintings.
• The outline, I used my new Sennelier inks and it was such a gorgeous dark black, but too black and I ended up going over the lines again in grey pencils to knock them back a bit as they dominated the picture.

So I put this one before you, and as I started it in December and finished it in January, not sure were it fits.  Any ideas on it are welcome, we clearly need as much help as we can get to  repair our relationship.  (Or should I not take this so personnally?)

Karen