Wherefore Art Thou?

Wherefore Art Thou?
16 x 20 oil painting
by Pat Fiorello
 $1600

 

The other day I shared a painting called "Modern Romance".  It was a painting of this bouquet of  David Austin Juliet roses but with a simplified background. 

The background I set up included a tapestry I bought in Italy. I was a bit intimidated and not sure how to  approach painting it but I decided to  face my fears and give it a try with this 2nd version of the same scene.

 I simplified the tapestry design, but tried to keep the feeling of the scene on the tapestry which had mountains, a lake and columns with flowers. Had to minimize details and keep edges soft so that the tapestry would stay behind the  flowers which were the main event. Eventually I eliminated one of the columns in the background as it started getting too busy. The flowers are a little pinker than the real flowers were which were more peachy, but I liked the pink with the greenish tapestry. So decided to leave them as is for this painting.

Below is a photo of the still life set up and steps along the way in completing "Wherefore Art Thou". 

It's amazing the difference the background made in the feel. With basically the same exact flowers, "Modern Romance" feels a lot more contemporary while "Wherefore Art Thou" Feels more romantic and old world.

Work in Progress