"Blue Drama" - Oil Water Lily Painting With Bee

"Blue Drama"

9" x 12" oil on gallery wrap canvas

$650

This oil painting of a blue water lily and a black bee was a challenge to paint with the various shades of blue involved.   The photograph of it doesn't show all the color variations.    

I read somewhere earlier today that the worker bee only produces about 1/12 of a teaspoon of honey in its lifetime.    That is something to ponder where our own life and our own accomplishments are concerned; are we making a difference at all?

Please contact me to purchase or inquire about this painting,  Since the sides of this work are also painted, there is no need to frame it.

Thank you for viewing my art !

reynoldsrenditions@gmail.com

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Almost There - 5th Stage - Pink Water Lilies (Work In Progress)

Stage 5 Pink Water Lilies

Work In Progress

12" x 16" oil on gallery wrap canvas

Now I am getting somewhere with this painting!  After working on it again last night, this oil of pink water lilies is finally taking shape and going in the direction I want it to.  I had intended to wait until I finished it to post about it again, but I am so excited I wanted to share it today.  It may take a couple of more days to finish.   

Some of you may not have read my previous posts where I stated that I am a self-taught artist, and have learned to paint over decades of trial and error.   Most paintings nowadays flow easier than this one did, for whatever reason.    I learned most of my painting knowledge from books, dating back to when I was a teenager.    At age 15 the one I poured over most of all was "Carlson' s Guide to Landscape Painting" by John F. Carlson.  It's really an oldie, first published I believe in 1929 and the ninth printing was in 1971.   I believe you can still find it on Amazon.   I highly recommend it for beginning artists; but all artists at all stages in their career would benefit from this book.  

Having said all that, sometimes I still just paint by instinct;   I don't always know why I do what I do or if I could repeat it again.   Does anyone else relate?    

Thank you for viewing my art !

reynoldsrenditions@gmail.com 

My Website

Pink Water Lilies - Oil Painting (Work In Progress)

"I must have flowers, always, and always."  - Claude Monet

Pink Water Lilies

Work In Progress 12" x 16"

The red water lily painting I began the other day has now turned into pink water lilies.   I will not leave them this rather "neon" pink look, but will refine the flowers with lighter and darker tones as I continue to paint.   Also, I am not happy with the color of the lily pads.   Much work needs to be done here.  

It seemed fitting to do a post of flowers today, as it is still the first day of Spring here in Hawaii.  Due to the time difference, it is already Saturday on most of the mainland except the West Coast.

As a child, I lived primarily with my grandparents (on my father's side) and my grandmother loved flowers.  She also had a concrete pond with goldfish and water lilies.   My young mind was more interested in the goldfish than the flowers.   Even as a teenager I was not particularly overly interested in flowers, but when my husband and I bought our home in Massachusetts, I went absolutely wild with flowers in the yard.   I planted various bulbs like tulips and crocus that would bloom in the Spring and I started many flowers from seed under lights in the winter to plant outside come sometime in May in Massachusetts.    My grandfather had always had a vegetable garden when I was a child, and all of a sudden with my new home, I discovered an interest in vegetable gardening as well.    

My point is,  I now feel like Monet in the quote above :  I must have flowers surrounding me.  I do not have any water lilies,  but I visit gardens and other areas here in Honolulu and Waikiki to photograph them and just to take in their beauty.   Beauty, Light, and Color inspire me to paint.  

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Gardenia Beauty - Oil Still Life Painting

"The Amen of nature is always a flower." - Oliver Wendell Holmes

"Gardenia Beauty"

 6" x 6" oil  on archival panel

$350

This oil still life painting was completed this evening.  It is only my second time to paint a gardenia blossom.

My Website

reynoldsrenditions@gmail.com

What About Color? And Natural Pigments? (In Still Life Or Other Paintings)

"Painting is a mosaic of colors weaved into a seamless whole."  - Igor Babailov

"Joyous Celebration"  

African Tulip Tree

24" x 20" Acrylic on gallery wrap canvas

My painting above was painted with a lot of joy, mostly because I was excited about the colors involved.  The vivid orange blossoms with the complimentary blue background visually moves you.   However, it is primarily a "warm" painting.   Marion Boddy-Evans has been quoted as saying, "It doesn't matter whether the overall feeling of the color in a painting is warm or cool, it just shouldn't try to be both."   Good advice.   

I began painting in oils when I was 15 years old, without any instruction to speak of except what I had learned in books about supplies needed and a few basics.   I can honestly say that from the very beginning, I painted mostly from instinct, and that particularly applied to the use of color and color mixing.  It came very natural to me, although it took a few years of painting experience to learn more about color and get a sense of what direction I wanted my art to go. I am still learning and experimenting with color today.  A quote I love is by Jean-Baptiste-Simeon Chardin, "Who told you that one paints with colors?  One makes use of colors, but one paints with emotions."

"Iris Garden Dance"

18" x 24" oil on gallery wrap canvas

I chose to feature 2 of my flower paintings here because they are so colorful.   I find much excitement in using a variety of colors in my works.   It keeps my paintings from all looking alike and also helps me to learn more about color mixing and color harmony as I go.    Marc Chagall said, "Color is all.  When color is right, form is right.  Color is everything, color is vibration like music; everything is vibration."  I agree with that to a degree; form and contrast and value are also very important.   

I would like to tell you about a new 2 DVD set by Stephen Quiller, a well-known and respected artist, which is all about color theory and would be a great source for beginning painters.   Check out this link for more information and a short video. 

Also, there has been much interest of late about traditional artists' materials and natural pigments.  Please visit this link for a source of natural pigments, including lead white, mica lead white, ceruse, ercolano red, and many more.   They carry not only oil paints, but casein, tempera, and watercolor.   There are interesting articles on this site as well, such as the color palettes of some of the old masters.

"I try to apply colors like words that shape poems, like notes that shape music."  - Joan Miro

My Website

reynoldsrenditions@gmail.com