It started snowing Sunday, and by Tuesday schools and offices were closing. I pulled out some reference photos from last spring, the iris were irresistible. Having just finished a workshop with Mike Beeman I worked through the steps for creating a great painting. First find the value map. I keep it simple. Not having the Value Viewer, a great little app created by Mark Putman, I make a copy of my reference photo in black and white. I was happy with the composition as I had cropped the original photo. Next I chose a palette and realized I needed an even a darker purple to create the shapes of the iris. I used the analogous color wheel to find a discord to keep the eye moving. The snow has stopped so the time to really paint, not just do a quick study, may not begin again for a bit. This painting in pastel is 10x20 and is Irresistible on this cold April day.
Our early summer iris from last year... oh for Spring...
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