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Bearded Iris, plein air painting
April 20, 2008
Bearded Iris - painted plein air - 44 x 18 inches Acrylics on stretched canvas.
Plein air, progression of Bearded Iris.
I could no longer avoid the subject of Iris - have always thought the subject to be too cliche - but they are blooming crazily in our garden this week, and I have taken far too many photos of them that don’t quite satisfy me. This variety actually blooms an unprecidented 3 times a year here! Some of the flower stalks grow well over three feet tall, with six or seven large five and a half inch blooms.
I started with a moody dark against light high-contrast painting in mind, but noticed after the 3rd stage (see above) how restricted I started feeling, and likewise, it showed as pretentious in the work. I realized there are a lot of limitations I impose subconsciously and consciously, (like do paint this, don’t paint that), preventing me from having a really great time painting.
Categories: Available for purchase, acrylic painting, flowers, garden |
April 23rd, 2008 at 6:41 pm
Love to see the progression, but I have to say I like them all.
Chris
April 25th, 2008 at 4:30 pm
Hi Chris, as a matter of fact, the humour and relaxed manner of your work has had a subtle influence here, because after taking a closer look at your website I wanted to get more of that carefree feeling back into my own work. I tend to get too serious about it sometimes, so thanks! (Chris’s website is http://www.chrisbolmeier.com/gallery/index.htm )