I just finished this painting of an iris. Made the big mistake of not doing a value study first. I just started in on the iris, and really liked the way it turned out. I did a lot of glazing to make the petals look velvety.Then I started doing leaves and background and thought I'd ruined it forever. My teacher and friends in class suggested I darken the background so I like it BETTER, but I'm still not in love with it.
The main thing I like about this is that it is a step in achieving one of my goals, which is to rely more on my own sketches for paintings and less on photos. I sketched this out first in the book Sandy bound and gave me a few years ago. I did take a picture because I can't paint faster than the flowers fade and die. Next time....value study.
