Friday, February 4, 2011

Trouble with tulips


Tulips
11 x 14
oil on canvas


detail of brushwork on the tulip petals


notice the small profiles on the tulips here in my start!


I love tulips! I love their simple shapes. I love their rich history. I love their Dutch-ness. I love how they reach and grow and stretch when they are cut and put in vases.

When I set up this still life, the tulips were partly opened, as you can tell from the lower photo, my start. As I painted them, the heat from the lamp made them open up and change position and importance. By the time I was finished painting today, the tulips were nearly twice their original size.

I love tulips. They add an interesting aspect to a painting, the not-so-still life.

4 comments:

Jan Yates, SCA, Canada said...

love your way with words--and brush!

before reading i thought what a fresh idea painting the weight of the drooping tulips but now see that you rose to the occasion and went with it

i like the overall circular movement in this and your use of greys~ and of course the colours of white--this is so painterly and alive--even if the tulips aren't!

Celeste Bergin said...

flowers are good...and my favorite thing is the glass-y jar...great job!

weekend et coup de brosse said...

Katherine, vos tulipes sont somptueuses!

loriann signori said...

Beautiful painting Kvan..it has such movement and feeling.