Beauty is in the eye of the beholder WIP 1

I would like to introduce you to Naomi, Heidi and Gisele my Calla lily super models (grin) . When my daughter and I went to the florist they were carefully stuffed with cotton wool to help keep them looking beautiful. Definitely our supermodels. James and I have been busy photographing them over the last couple of days and we plan to take more reference shots as they open up some more.





I have also drawn out a first rough sketch. There are several things I will change when I draw it out properly but I hope you can begin to see what I am striving for. I hope to make the model merge into the background and become the calla lilies. You cannot see it in this very rough sketch but on and around the leaf eye there will also be droplets of water in which I hope to paint tiny but beautiful wild flowers.




Lastly I would like to share with you this wonderful quote which, along with the supermodel versus everyday teenage girl idea, has helped to inspire me.

"Some flowers spoke with strong
and powerful voices, which proclaimed
in accents trumpet-tongued,"I am beautiful,
and I rule". Others murmured in tones
scarcely audible, but exquisitely soft and sweet,
"I am little, and I am beloved."

Armandine A.L. Dupin 1804-1876 French writer

Once I have all my reference photo's I will draw out the outline in more detail and add in the wildflower dewdrops in and around the calla leaf eye.

Ona

The meaning behind flowers.

I thought I would write this as a separate entry rather than as just a comment because I thought this might be interesting for you to see how I develop my thought processes from the very initial stages of a painting. Normally before I reach an outline there are several days/ weeks of planning and research for a painting. I nearly always begin as I have done this time with a title or a concept. For this painting it is the old saying 'beauty is in the eye of the beholder' I was fascinated to hear and read your comments about my initial question yesterday of what your favourite flower is and why. It is so personal to so many people and is normally associated with some individual memory. Definitely true then to the old saying and yet as I look today so many flowers have symbolic meanings associated with them too.

At the moment I am drawn to two flowers most for what I want to convey. First the white gardenia in bud form because of its shape and form and purity/ lack of blemishes (thanks Fookie and Sylvia for suggesting it) and secondly the calla lily (Thanks mum and several others from wet canvas who have e mailed or pm'd me with this suggestion) because of its elegant shape and beauty, it really does look like a model of the flower world. I am in a quandary though because although the calla lily's shape elegance and form probably conveys more clearly the message I want to put across it has a more difficult shape leaf to work with for what I want to do and it also seems to have an association with death. The gardenia or a white rose bud however has leaves that would be easier to work with but is it too pure/ not false enough for what I want to say in my painting? I will have to research both more and maybe get both to photograph and then play around with some rough sketches. I'll keep you posted with my progress.

Ona

What do you consider to be the most beautiful flower?

I am playing around with ideas this morning. I have had the old saying 'beauty is in the eye of the beholder' on my to paint list for a while now. I want to explore peoples interpretation of what exactly beauty is. In women the media forces youngsters to view beauty as being mirror image of our fashion models which can cause huge issues for many and can all too easily lead to heartache but is this really beauty or is a more natural figure more beautiful to the eye? I was also thinking about flowers this morning as I was looking out at my neglected garden full of so called weeds. I think these wild flowers have such beauty in them but so many overlook them because they are small or because they grow where we plant our cultivated flowers. I would like to use both ideas in my painting and work towards developing a parallel between them. I don't set my self easy tasks do I (grin)

So.... I could really do with your input on this one. What do you consider to be the most beautiful cultivated flower and why? Just quickly asking around my family we came up with rose or orchid, maybe because of their link with romance??? I really hope you can spare the time to leave your comments. I would love to incorporate some of your views into my painting.


Hoping to hear from you all soon.

Edit: When I asked my daughter she thought carefully and said "so you want us to think of what the equivalent flower to the famous model superstar would be, the perfect flower, not necessarily the most beautiful in my eyes." She is so good with words so I thought I would add this here as an edit and not just in my comment reply. So what is the famous model superstar of the flower world the Naomi Campbell or Gisele Bundchen equivalent?


Ona

Grubs Up

Hi everyone,

I managed to finish the mother bird today and add in the last few shadows so here is the finished painting and the story that goes with it.


Life at the moment is more than a little crowded in the barn swallows nest. The babies are growing fast. Their baby down has almost gone and they will soon be ready to leave the nest. The lack of space at the moment makes feeding time especially challenging. Each time a parent returns there is a tussle for the prime feeding spot as a sea of mouths opened wide. As mum returns once again with some food the two most well behaved babies of the family are sat nicely at the front of the nest with their fluffy little wings neatly folded beside them. They would not dream of pushing their siblings out of the way. They have their mouths wide open ready to be fed just as their mother has told them to do. The most demanding of the family however is determined to be noticed and to get his beak in front of them. The oldest baby is feeling fed up because he is not being offered the food this time. In his annoyance he decides to block the baby of the family from getting closer to the food. For the baby there is simply ‘no room at the inn’

Ona

Grubs up WIP 6

I have been busily working on the rest of the background over the last couple of days. The wood grain has taken me a while but thankfully it's nearly done, just some shadowing left to do and then I can focus on the mother bird. I am hoping that I'll manage to finish her in a day or two.

Ona

'Grubs Up' WIP 5

I have managed to get some more of the painting done today. Creating the mud pellet and straw nest was a challenge because I wanted to suggest this unique texture but not encourage the viewer to focus in on it too much as the mother and 5 baby birds are of course the centre of interest in the painting. I have a little adjusting to do to it in a few areas but it is nearly done. I have also begun painting the mother bird. I really want to capture the huge difference in appearance between the mum and the 5 babies. Although the babies colouring is largely the same as their mum, they are still much fluffier and plumper. In contrast their mother is sleek and elegant in appearance with muscular shoulders ready to power her in flight as she swoops to catch food for her young.

Ona

Grubs Up WIP 4

All 5 baby barn swallows are now painted. The last one is the most demanding of the family. He is determined to be noticed and to get his beak in front of the others. It has been fun creating their little characters and accentuating their features to convey their personalities. I now need to focus on their nest.

Ona

Grubs Up WIP 3

Over the last couple of days I have been focusing on the next two babies in the nest. These are the most well behaved babies of the family. They are sat nicely at the front of the nest with their fluffy little wings neatly folded beside them. They would not dream of pushing their siblings out of the way. They have their mouths wide open ready to be fed just as their mother has told them to do. As a result they are the two who are being rewarded with the food this time. It was fun painting their wide open mouths.

Ona

'Grubs Up' WIP2

Today I have been working on developing the character of my second youngster in the painting. I still have his tail to do but am quite pleased with how he is developing so far. He is feeling slightly fed up because he has not being offered the food this time. After all he is the biggest and in his opinion the most beautiful of the family. In his annoyance he decides to block the baby of the family from getting closer to the food. "If I can't have the food you certainly can't"

Ona

I'm having fun with Birds!

I am so lucky to have such fabulous reference photo's to use for my paintings. The other day James took some photo's of a family of barn swallows in their nest as they were being fed by their mum. Here are just two of them for you to see.



I knew as soon as I saw them I just had to compose my own painting. The family that James photographed were already growing rapidly so much so in fact that it was hard for all of the babies to squeeze in the nest. Each time a parent returned there was a tussle for the prime feeding spot as a sea of mouths opened wide. I wanted to capture that struggle in a painting whilst showing the disparity between the biggest and strongest and the smallest youngster who had to struggle to be noticed in the nest. Today I started painting and have begun the wood background that I decided to use instead of the metal bridge in James photo's.


Here is a close up of the smallest of the family who has been pushed to the back of the nest in the struggle to get the prime feeding spot. I get the feeling he is saying 'hey... don't forget me!'


Ona

Fast food FLY through!

I've finished the painting. It is 14 inches by 30 inches and is painted on arches hot press watercolour paper. Hummingbirds are such beautiful birds and I have really enjoyed painting them.

It was wonderful to be able to study closely these magical birds in their different modes of flight, to capture the movement of their wings, their delicate features and their tiny pointed beaks...


... to be able to watch them closely as they feed and capture this moment in a painting. To see the tiny droplets of the sugary solution on their beaks glistening as they catch the light.


and to marvel at how they use their wings and tails to hover and flit with such precision..


Ona