Floral Challenge #30days20

Next came the Floral Challenge from Dutch artist Roos Schuring. She is an amazing painter who works in both gouache and oil. Since the whole world had shut down, artists everywhere were finding ways of reaching out and encouraging other artists to keep their work going. With galleries closed and people watching their nickels, sales of art have basically tanked for most everyone. It's Spring, so let's paint flowers - #30days20 Instagram challenge.

It took me just 2 days over the 30 to finish 21 paintings (I mis-counted), some are way better than others, but the point was to get out and paint, weather permitting, or work in the studio and to learn something about painting flowers. So many people signed up to do this - it was heartening and inspiring.

1. Fremontia, Native Californian, oil on panel, 9"x12"

I found a beautiful bush of these on a walk in the neighborhood. The plant is tough and rangy, but the blooms are a beautiful yellow that turn rusty orange as they fade out. I love the structure of these native flowers.

2. Freesias, gouache on wc board, 6"x8"

First ones of the season. They have a lovely scent that stayed in the studio for many days. This one was difficult with gouache - trying to get the 'glow' of light through the petals. Also hard for me to paint loosely with the gouache as my technique is more methodical. 

3. Iceberg Roses, oil on panel, 9"x12"

I picked these from a neighbor's fence. I take small clippers with me when I go for walks now.

With white flowers I found it difficult to paint all the shadows and light coming through the petals.

4. Purple Iris, gouache on aquabord, 6"x6"

The Iris started blooming like crazy - the violets ranged from pinky to deep blue-violet. Again a challenge with gouache, trying to keep loose and keep the color alive.

5. Fremontia II, gouache on aquabord, 6"x6"

Trying the same flower with a different medium. A little bud bloomed after most of the rest of the flowers went off. 

6. Azaleas, gouache on aquabord, 8"x10"

The azaleas went off in a burst of blooming - they don't last long. Struggling with the gouache to keep and interesting surface and some life in the painting. It's much too labored.

7. Alstromeria, oil on panel, 9"x12"

I bought these at Trader Joe's when we ventured out to do some shopping. They just looked cheery. I though I should move on to more complex bunches and see what happens.

8. Red Rose, oil on panel, 8"x10"

This had such a deep red color and a heavy head. Trying to keep the color intense was difficult.

9. Julia Child Roses, oil on panel, 9"x12"

I've never seen so many blooms on this bush before - just a riot. And yes, they look like butter. The challenge was to simplify the details and see all the colors in the shadows.

10. California Poppies, oil on panel, 5"x7"

We went for a drive to see the wildflower bloom - few people out, instead of the usual hordes. The Poppies and Lupine and all the tiny yellow and white flowers were fantastic. I was determined to get the intensity of the orange - cadmium orange straight from the tube. The only painting with the flowers in their natural habitat. Notes and photo references helped.

11. Garden Roses, oil on panel, 10"x10" 

Trying to keep it simple and describe the flowers with less detail. It was fun painting the vase.

12. Big Pink, oil on panel, 6"x6"

This one started out as a beautiful bud and kept opening and opening without dropping any petals.

13. Azaleas again, oil on panel, 8"x8"

Last of the bloom held on so I thought I'd try oil for this. Maybe it's just me and Azaleas.

14. Bird of Paradise, oil on panel, 9"x9"

A friend gave me 2 stalks from her yard. This was a funky panel and I didn't like the surface, but the flower is pretty amazing so I did what I could to get the feel of it. They are so exotic.

15. Epiphyllum, oil on panel, 8"x8"

The pink ones were the first to bloom. We have some huge plants and the wind knocked over several of them one night. The first few blooms were a intense pink, later blooms on the same plant were paler. Don't know why. These literally last for about 2 days, maybe 3 before they begin to droop and close. So I had to work pretty quickly. No second chance on this.

16. Amaryllis, oil on panel, 8"x8"

A friend had a huge pot full of these on her patio. It was a bit shady, so hard to get the intensity of the bloom. This is the only one that was done from a total photographic source and I think I can tell the difference. Much harder to get depth and color.

17. Lilacs, oil on panel, 10"x10"

Every year when the lilacs come into the stores, I would buy some for my mom. She loved them so I always think of her when I see these. The second thought was how the heck do I paint them? Loosely and indistinctly, without attention to the individual tiny flowers, that's how.

18. Small red roses, oil on panel, 9"x12"

A wild and crazy rose bush with tones of small blooms - trying to simplify the shapes and color variations and work with a mass of flowers, rather than individual ones.

19. Pot of Geraniums, oil on panel, 8"x10"

A cousin asked if I ever painted geraniums as they remind her of her mother (my aunt). I looked around and thought 'why not?' These were on the patio against a whitish wall and gave me another opportunity to leave out the details.

20. White Epiphyllum, oil on panel, 10"x10"

The white ones all went off almost at once. They were stunning. I tried to keep this simple and more abstract, trying to get the feel of light coming through them.

21. Small Roses, oil on panel, 8"x8"

This was the final one, a few Julia Childs and some red roses were still coming on. I put these on the kitchen table and the light coming through the windows just made them glow. I thought of Edouard Manet and Henri Fantin-Latour and how unlabored their flower paintings are. 

I gave it a good shot. This was a truly a challenge and I got some right, some not so much. I used a different palette (Roos's) and tried using gouache in a different way. It was all a good lesson.