blue cattails

7 x 11, pastel on BFK

Still working my way around the color wheel with the cattails paintings. This time it's all about blue and its analogous and complementary colors. By creating my own textured surface (Acrylic Pastel Ground on Rives BFK paper), I feel like I'm speaking my native language with another native language speaker. All of the lines and bumps make perfect sense to me, because I created them.

When I first started to hear about colors and their complements, I thought artists were referring to "compliments." As if the blues and violets in this painting whispered to the oranges and yellows, "Oh, darling, you look divine! That dress is mahvelous! And your shoes are amazing! Come here and sit with us at the popular table. Really! You must!"

What a letdown to learn that I was wrong.

Sunflowers

Sunflowers were the perfect subject for getting back to some studio art time. It was great to be on the boat. But, it's good to be home. I think that I will paint more landscapes from our Vancouver Island adventure based on the many sketches and plein air pieces I did while we were gone.

But today was for sunflowers. I wanted to try to get a vibration from the yellow/purple and orange/blue combinations.