"The Bling"

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"Wildflowers are the bling in the spring landscape." The wildflowers are definitely out and I thought it would be fun to describe them with words usually confined to women and their jewelry or other adornments. There is a hugh crop of them this year. Enjoy!

Contrasts have tremendous power to highlight the very thing you want the viewer to enjoy. In the case of this piece, I have contrasted a "pristine" image of a wildflower with a textural, "smudgy" looking background. There are (3) layers of gesso alternated with soft pastels, brayering with printing ink, and (2) layers of Liquitex Clear Gesso in between to cause the pastel to grab hold of the surface. If you have a color in the background that needs to be toned down, you can add another layer of gesso and then create some gestural marks with the edge of an old credit card to "pump up the volume"...so to speak. You can see that I did exactly that in the area right above the flower. This technique also creates rhythm and drama rather than having a solid band of color connecting the image to the top edge.

The importance of the gestural marks flying upwards to the top edge cannot be overstated. Having them in close proximity to the corners, is a good design move as well. If you like splatters, splotches, textural marks, this gesso treatment is something you might want to pursue. And when you blog everyday, you get tons of experience! Today is my (400th) posting. Just a few more things to think about.