For this exercise, I was intrigued and looking forward to the idea of dissecting and isolating a natural object, and wanted to experiment with flowers, as I previously enjoyed producing the still life with flowers in Part Two. Going outside into my backyard, I produced extremely simple line drawings of a few flowers and also a bunch of roses in the windowsill concentrating only on the basic lines and shapes that were visible.
After looking back on these simple, basic compositions, I chose two compositions that I took an interest in and developed the shapes and lines in the piece and also included a slight impression of the background which happened to be a brick wall, that’s pointing created an interest contrast in the background to the curves and waves of the flower in the foreground. Having drawn these studies, the idea of isolating the flower from the busy leaves and detailed background appealed to me and so my idea for this piece was to produce these studies in a tonal form with body and presence whilst creating a vague and simplified version of the background in order to give more focus on the flower.
My next move was to create a tonal study and colour study using the shapes and forms i had used in previous studies, which created clear results of how I wanted the final piece to look. After producing these I went on to create two more studies that didn’t have as much structure as the previous two, concentrating more on the distribution of colour and how this would fill the page before I moved onto the final painting.
The painting below is the final piece for this exercise. I am extremely pleased with the result and believe this is the image I had been imagining in my head and recreating on paper. Personally, I believe the piece works well due to the previous simplified sketches which determined the shapes and form, and with the use of concentrated watercolour and acrylic, I think that there is a weight and 3D form to the flower.Also, I believe that the control that I had with the medium has helped to create a polished transition of colours which produce realistic petals with a structure and shape, rather than flat 2D curvy triangles. With a simple, basic background, I think that the flower stands out from the page and emphasises the colours, shapes and tone which complement the pointing behind the subject.
SOPHIE FAWCETT'S OCA LEARNING LOG 