Sunday, May 4, 2014

Tulip Festival Fieldtrip

Took myself out for an afternoon to visit the Agassiz Tulip Festival in April. I'm certain there's no shortage of tulip pictures in the world, but here are a few more anyways...






Painting: Meryl in Blue


Meryl in Blue features a young Meryl Streep from the movie Kramer- she was quite a pleasure to paint. It was started during a portrait workshop demo in Agassiz, which is why it rocks the unfinished look. Cleaning the brush directly on the canvas is much easier than on a cloth, and adds a touch of chaos! 

*Note, Blogspot seems to soften/airbrush the pictures after uploading. 

Sunday, March 2, 2014

Painting: Botanical


BOTANICAL
oil on canvas, December 2013
approx. 40"x34"

This piece, loosely inspired by a classical flora painting, features a traditional Rembrandt tulip. These tulips are characterized by their mottled colour and flaming streaks, with patterns unique to each flower. They were extremely popular int he 1600's (Tulipmania) and were sold for huge amounts of money.Unfortunately, we now know the feathered marks on "Rembrandts" are caused by a virus, which weakens the tulip bulbs before eventually killing them. Tragic!

Though Rembrandt himself isn't known for painting flowers, many Dutch masters are. Authentic Rembrandt tulips were banned but modern, virus-free look-a-like tulips are now on the market.