I've recently been commissioned to create a large 30 x 40 inch acrylic floral painting. It has been such a long time since I've done much with flowers and lately I've been painting so many geometric designs, that I'm really loving the freedom this is bringing. It's certainly a welcome break from precision.
I mix the colors directly onto the canvas and most times work in an impasto style (meaning the paint is so thick you can see the brushstrokes). I was playing around with different styles in my mind of what I wanted it to look like: Wayne Thiebaud (LOVE!) vs. classic Impressionist (been there, done that), Matisse (lots of great ideas) vs. Dutch Renaissance (too formal for my style). In the end, I simply decided to start painting and let the shapes, patterns, and colors dictate how the whole was going to look (how very right-brained of me, right? Ha!).
Now that the painting is half done, I'm really quite happy with how it's looking! The colors are lively and the shapes are organic, nothing too realistic and nothing too abstract. The style is half flat (Thiebaud + Matisse) and half blended (Impressionism). Just right for me. What do you guys think?
