Flower Study #35- Roses, Hydrangeas & Larkspur- 3 arrangements

Flower Study #35
Roses, Hydrangea, Larkspur
12 x 12



This paintings was inspired by one of my arrangements from my flower design class . Last week we took a selections of the same flowers- roses, lilies, larkspur, hydrangeas and some various foliage and 2 made 3 different arrangements. One was in a tall vase, one in a short vase and one in a basket. The photo's of the arrangements are below. One point of the exercise was to show how with the same flower materials we could make different arrangmetns that all had a different feel. The small one was my favorite so I started with that one as a painting subject.

Flower Study #34 Roses & Hydrangeas

Flower Study #34
Roses & Hydrangeas
6 x 6 Oil Painting on Panel
by Pat Fiorello

$100

Tried a little more contemporary asymmetrical design today. Good opportunity to work on suggesting a grouping of roses.

Flower Study #33-Roses, limited palette

Flower Study #33
6 x 6 Oil Painting on Panel
by Pat Fiorello

This is a little study of a rose arrangement. Wanted to keep the color palette pretty limited- orange, violet & green and keep the suggestion of the roses loose. Used both brushes and palette knife.






If you are in Atlanta, tonight I'll be doing a painting demonstration at 
The Art House Gallery in Buckhead at 3193 Paces Ferry Place. It starts at 6pm. I'll be doing a watercolor of this arrangement of hydrangeas I pulled together yesterday. The event is free and open to the public so everyone is invited to attend. Gallery sales support the Fragile Kids Foundation.

Flower Study #25 White Hydrangeas

Flower Study # 25
White Hydrangeas
6 x 8
Oil Painting on Panel
by Pat Fiorello
Starting bid $100

Bid Here Now





I love painting hydrangeas. The white ones are especially fun as they offer an opportunity to use subtle warm and cool "near whites" to show form.


Special thanks to Dan Edmonson for acknowledging me as this week's Featured Artist on Elegant Fine Art.com.   Click here for more info.

Flower Study 20

Summer Bouquet
12 x 16
Oil Painting on Panel
by Pat Fiorello

This arrangement gave me the opportunity to try out several different types of flowers with different shapes and textures. I especially liked the delicacy of the hydrangeas and wispy purple flowers in contrast to the solidity of the green pitcher.

Flower Study #10 Hydrangeas

Flower Study #10
Hydrangeas
 Oil Painting by Pat Fiorello
$200

Tried a different flower and color palette for this study of hydrangeas after the roses from last week.

Below is my original reference photo;

Here is the initial block in in dark transparent colors;

Then beginning to add in the leaves, next I added background color to cover the entire canvas with  a layer of paint, then I came in with brushstrokes to depict petal shapes and add lighter areas to build form with the final painting depicted above. I took some artistic license to modify colors and shapes of the flowers yet still have them feel like hydrangeas.

To see more of my flower paintings click on Pat Fiorello Floral Paintings

Hydrangea Painting-Take 2

Photo of hydrangeas

Today I decided to paint the same hydrangeas as yesterday, but with a totally different approach. Yesterday I approached it using the method I learned from Hedi Moran while at the Scottsdale Artists School earlier this year. That approach starts with transparent colors only then builds with opaques in the 2nd stage. Today I tried a more classical approach . Here are a couple of preliminary stages and then the paintings in it's close to final form (still need to touch up a few areas, but this is as far as I got today).

This is the result of today's approach compare to yesterday's below.

Both approaches were fun and the results were not as different as I had expected. The classical approach feels a bit more formal and tight,  than Hedi's approach which feels a lot freer to me, but knowing that I could make some adjustments next time if I want. I guess the good news is that you can get to the same end with a variety of means. Maybe WHAT you want to paint is more important than HOW you get there. A lesson for painting- and a lesson I have come across in other areas of life. Sometimes we let the "how" get in the way ( or even stop us... in the case of "I don't know how") . If you know what you want and why it's important, many hows can get you there.

What do you think? Have you had that experience in art or other places in life?