"Creative Friends" (sold)

(sold)

"Creative friends provide the soil where seeds of thought can grow." I have many friends who are creative. It is my joy to be with them and have creative discussions about the art process. Thanks to all of you!

(You may have noticed there was no posting yesterday. My husband is back in the hospital with pneumonia. Everything is okay and he is getting better. Those of you who are in my script class tomorrow afternoon....the class is still on. Jim is exactly where he needs to be and will remain there until he recovers.)

Tropical plants are fast growing and seem to go hand in hand with the concept of creative thought. This one is not a completely realistic interpretation because I got carried away with the colors, design, and watercolor techniques. Notice that the plant divides the space nicely by going completely past the edge on three sides. The color palette is the star attraction with two sets of split complements...violet / green and orange / green. Any time I can squeeze in two sets of complements, it's a happy day! The visual impact is always compelling. There is also happiness when I can include my two favorite violets. The violet band at the top is Light Violet (Golden Acrylic). The darker violet in the plant and lettering is Perylene Violet. (WN Gouache) The next time you see some tropical plants, notice their colors. Consider using them even if you don't want to actually paint the plant. You cannot go wrong. Just something to think about.

"Variety" (sold)

(sold)

Can you imagine a world where there was only one kind of tree or one kind of flower? I would be on my "soap box" making the case for palm trees! Fortunately for all of us, we have the pleasure of enjoying a variety of design elements every day, whether it's in nature or art.

As for this piece...I enjoyed painting a plant that is in an abstract environment. It's okay with me that there is not a blue sky and a traditional landscape scene. The only danger with variety is that there can be too much which causes visual confusion. One of the first considerations in balancing variety with harmony is ...to keep the main thing, the main thing. This plant fits in beautifully with this background because the colors are so analogous. The choice to add more burnt sienna with some of the darker green and place it in the foreground was to warm up the painting a bit and ground this piece with some darker values. (Burnt Sienna would be a darker version of orange which is the split complement of green which is why it works so well.) Consider variety in your next work or simply look for it in other artist's work.