New work

I have started the jaccranda painting in a long, horizontal, narrow format and have created a triangular composition but , because of the narrow shape I included a number of secondary triangles to keep it interesting. I have decided to make the left hand side of the painting darker to keep the eye moving across the subject. Watch this space for a photographic image soon.
If you visit the gallery page of my website at http://www.rigmarole.com.au/  you will find two paintings of Pudgee, who used to live on the next block. I have completed a number of sketches of her and, with my wife, will be preparing a children's picture book about her move to a new home. The project is expected to take some time but we are looking forward to visiting Pudgee in her new home to gather more inspiration and experience her mischievious but lovable personality. If the sketches photograph well, I shall post them in a few days.

painting completed

I have just completed the white gum flower painting and will include it on my web page as soon as it can be processed. Art House Reproduction have been delayed because of the terrible floods in Brisbane so will not be able to process it for a few days.
I am happy with the completed painting and hope that the composition leads the viewers eye to the flowered area. There is some contrast between the rather busy flowered area and the group of leaves on the left of the painting which are less cluttered, but this section is also placed to guide the viewers eye to the flowers.
One tip for users of the masking fluid - make sure that your solution is fresh and don't leave it on the painting too long as it makes it difficult to remove.

I have photographed it on the easel which gives an indication of the size of the image.
Onward now to my next project. I am toying with the idea of making the jacaranda a long, horizontal image but we shall see once I have sketched the images.

next works

When the white gum painting is complete, I will explore the Jacaranda and Poinsettia. The trees are interesting in that, most of the leaves drop during flowering creating the familiar 'sea' of colour..

Work in progress

Hi,
I'm working on a white gum painting at the moment. I have sketched the subject in the frame on the paper that I use, which is 640gm Archers watercolour board. The background is 'out of focus' abstract shapes which reflects the essence of this particular eucalypt with pale cerulean blue, predominately at the top, to suggest that there is a sky peeping through the background.
I started by painting dark colours between the shapes and applying light coloured washes between them. This creates the abstract, out of focus, background.
The effect of this brings the true subject of the painting to the attention of the viewer.
In the composition, I try to create a triangle with a base at the bottom of the painting to give the painting 'stability' and keep the eye of the viewer on the subject.

The flower areas have been given some streaks of masking fluid which will be the last parts to be painted. Although the flowere are white, the majority of the flower colour will be cream to ochre and pale blue in the shadows because the flowers discolour as they die. I like to paint the inperfections because, even with inperfections, nature is perfect.