72. Iris love

I love irises. They are absolutely gorgeous flowers and look breathtaking in every color they exist! First of all it was a huge surprise to me that they come in about a million hues! I also love how the petals are like frills, so delicate and beautiful. Well I probably suck in expressing in words how much I love them so lets stop it at that.

I was very very apprehensive about painting an Iris, the reason being the same that kept me from painting any kind of flower. Knowing that I suck at anything remotely "delicate", I wondered how I could make those petals seem real and not like made of paper. There are some outstanding botanical artists who do complete justice to the flower. For instance, I drool at the absolutely stunning irises that Jacqeline Gnott does, they just blow me away. And not in my whole life will I be able to render something as good as that. That was my primary fear in even attempting these flowers.

Blush
Palette Knife on board, 5 * 7 inches
© Nithya Swaminathan

But then, after doing those tulips and other flowers with the palette knife, I had this knife obsession and just had to continue in its flow. So I just plunged in, and I am glad I did. I will be posting a lot of irises over the coming posts, in a multitude of hues. All of these are done with the palette knife. I shall also write a bit about the process later. Stay tuned.

Let me know what you think of this one.