Lost In The Garden

When I do a painting like this I like to think the viewer can look into it and get lost among the flowers. When I am painting, I try to forget about the distractions around me and, if I am demonstrating, I often forget about the people watching as my mind and creative spirit get lost in the process.

Here I started with the pink flowers, placed them slightly off center and surrounded them with rich darks of perylene green. The thin vertical red flowers directly above them added balance and color harmony to the composition. Above the tall red flowers the spattering and visible brush strokes create an abstract area which is interesting without competing with the dominate pink flowers. I enjoy including abstract painting like this because it invites the viewer to use their imagination. The red and green colors in the bottom of the painting create harmony because they are complementary. The yellow flowers in the upper left corner are interesting but do not compete with the dominate pink flowers because the are not surrounded by dark values.

I am in the process of developing an online class "Painting Flower Gardens In Watercolor" where students will learn how to create paintings like this one. After a brief discussion on materials, we will paint individual flowers like lilies and hollyhocks, people in the garden, and a large urn full of flowers, Students will have the same reference material I am working from and we will paint a vignette followed by a finished painting. The class will have bonuses and other surprises and I will announce when it is available in one of these Sunday emails. Happy Painting! Dennis Pendleton