Floral Series

These are mostly acrylics. The key was to capture the plants and flowers in good lighting, meaning a mix of areas lit up and other areas in shade. I wanted to capture how the light fell on a portion of a leaf or blossom, leaving other portions in shadow, and how some leaves cast shadows on those below them. That challenged me to get the hues and values just right.  Painting a part of a leaf too brightly would seem artificial, as if paint had been poured on the surface rather than light itself. I also paid attention to composition, having just enough brightly colored flowers balanced by green foliage, with dark backgrounds that establish the contrast with the colorful foreground. One painting, done in oil, is of a cherry blossom tree in my backyard. I tried to capture the shadows cast by the tree on  the side of  the green cabana.