You would be forgiven if you don't even remember this post about having this painting as a work in progress, 6 months ago! I had actually started it almost a year ago, posted an update 6 months later and it has slept ever since. When I was looking back at the year in order to make some year end posts perhaps, what struck me immediately was the number of paintings that were lying unfinished. Nothing new about it, but this year has certainly been different. In all these past years, I had about 5 completed works and a dozen unfinished. Right now, I have about 4-5 works in progress but more than 300 paintings completed this year thanks to my pet project. That, to me is a huge change, by far the biggest success that came out of my mammoth undertaking.
So coming back, I wanted to complete all the works in progress before starting the New Year. And this one jumped at me first, as it had the dubious distinction for being a WIP for the longest time this year. :) This is from my own setup as always. The lace in the set up is my curtain. I had the vase and the plums set up and wanted some drapery around. Tried some other fabrics but did not quite get the look I was after. In a flash of brilliance, I just pulled down my curtain and voila! There it was, as I had in mind and ready to paint.
Still life with Hydrangeas
Acrylics on Canvas, 12 by 16 inches
© Nithya Swaminathan
I was not going after a realistic feel at all, as has been the case these days what with my knife taking over! How it turned out though is quite different from what I had visualized. I think this painting is much more loose in style compared to all my recent work. I kind of let it paint itself so to say. I like the end result, and I am glad I stopped it without ruining the painting. I was not at all happy with the painting when I decided to pause and take a WIP photo. When I saw the painting through the lens though, I felt it was much closer to completion than what I thought. It looked better through the lens than through my eyes :) Then I decided not to mess any further and keep it as it was, flaws and all.
These are not real hydrangeas by the way, plastic flowers from IKEA in a vase that I really liked :) Your feedback is most welcome. This post is titled take one, as there is a take two as well, as you might have already guessed. Stay tuned.
[...] painting with thick texture, original still life painting with texture I had started with my Hydrangeas set up on a white surface and was half way through with them. Meanwhile, it was really weird to be painting on white after a [...]
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