Blue and Purple Irises on a Pink Background

Oil on 100% Rag board supported by board, 7" x 11"
95.00 go to eBay
In honor of spring I just had to paint some flowers, but I really wanted to paint some irises, and it's not iris season yet! So, I raided my still-life cabinet at The Art League School where I teach, and found these lovely, though undoubtedly unusual, artificial ones. I have to admit too, this painting took more than one day..... it took two. -- Just painting the background took several hours, and I wasn't satisfied until I covered the original white background with some pink and "tonked" it with some phone book paper to get the texture. NOW, I liked it!

For anyone interested in learning to draw or paint out there, even those learning to draw the figure (I've been teaching that for about thirty-two years) you can learn a tremendous amount by observing flowers. Their endless curving, interrelated parts, delicate relationships, and constantly changing perspective - depending upon your point of view - are all issues that one deals with in drawing the figure, or anything for that matter. So if you are interested in improving your drawing, get yourself a sketchbook, get a stem of freesia, and do a drawing of the spaces in between the flowers. You'll be amazed at how much you'll learn, and, what a relaxing and satisfying experience it is. God is in the details.

NOTE - "Tonking" just means blotting your wet oil painting with telephone book paper (must be only that paper), and was named after Henry Tonks, who was the President of the Slade School in London in the early part of the 20th C.. A very useful practice.