“Apple blossom and azalea in a vase.”
Time is relentlessly passing by and without knowing is already Easter. The weather is still improving, although the temperatures are falling now to more normal values for spring. The nature is awaking from the winter, all shades of greens from new leaves and flowers everywhere. The apple tree in the garden is still in full bloom, alongside many other flowers. Last week, I managed to do a plein air, but this week was a bit windy, so I decided to do another floral still life. I did a set up using a little branch from the apple tree and some beautiful pink azalea flowers, also from the garden. I used a smaller canvas, for a better composition, while still using the sight size method.
I painted it alla prima, over two sessions, again without using any medium, just the triple rectified turpentine; I managed to switch to the proper staff, from various odour less products and I have to admit, I enjoy more the quality and the properties of the proper turpentine – probably never going back to other products. For the pigments, I still used a reduced palette, two blues, two yellows, three reds, three browns and white. In the future I intend to reduce further the palette, ideally should end up with just red, yellow and blue, black and white, with either just one earthy version of the primary colours, or a version with a cool and a warm of each, similar to my current palette – I need to experiment more, before deciding on the pigments I should keep. In terms of dark -light, I tend to associate dark with warm and light with cool colours, but still not getting enough dark / warm colours. I sometimes use to much white to lighten the values and as a result they get cooler and chalky, instead of a lighter but still warm value. So, I need more practice on using other light pigments instead of white.
Anyway, happy with the result, so here it is:
“Apple blossom and azalea in a vase.”
Oil on linen.
24 X 30cm (10” X 12”).
