Red Anthurium flowers

It’s Day 28 of the 30 in 30! Today I painted red Anthurium flowers.

They gave me a bit of a struggle. Now that I see them from further away and smaller, I think they look okay. When I’m just inches from the canvas, I tend to lose the big picture so to speak. Every stroke of my paint brush and color I choose has me questioning myself. I don’t want to add too much detail, the view needs to use their imagination to a certain extent. But I also don’t want to put too little detail in. It’s a fine line and one I cross and hop over again and again.

Reds can be a problem for me in general. Well, really it’s the hi-lights on the red that is the problem. You might think to add a hi-light you just add white to the existing color, but that isn’t always the case and hi-lights are often different colors. They are rarely white. To lighten red you would naturally think just add white, right? No. Think about what white and red make… they make pink. Pink can sometimes be a correct hi-light, but I’ve found more times than not it isn’t .

I fiddled and fussed on this anthurium plant painting for hours today. I tried gray hi-lights, pink, white and finally settling on a version of all three. Anthuriums typically look plastic or wax like to me. They are such oddities and not common around here at all. I’m sure they are a Hawaiian flower, but I think I’ve only seen the anthurium like this one in floral arrangements. What about you?

I always love the dramatic way red and green compliment each other. Not like Christmas colors but rich and elegant. I first encountered this love of these two colors with a very tropical painting from years ago and I can’t help but show you again even though it is from my earliest days of painting. I still like this painting. It fits right into my tropical theme for this challenge. It’s called Tropical Getaway and it’s the Jim Thompson house in Bangkok.

Tropical Getaway

I see this painting everyday, as it’s in my bathroom. I couldn’t bare to sell it. My skills have improved since painting this and I look at it all the time and think I could do a much better job now, but it’s the vibe this painting gives off that I like. Click the photo to see it larger. You can see a blog post about this painting and my process shots along the way if you click here.

Red Anthurium flowers

If you’re interested in the Red Anthurium Flowers use the PayPal button below. It’s an 8″x10″ acrylic on canvas board, $88 + $10 shipping.

 

I’ve been having issues with my site, my shop in particular. If you’ve looked for sometime to purchase and keep getting the same page, that’s the problem. I hope to have it fixed soon. Until then, the PayPal buttons are working and you can always contact me if you would like to purchase anything.

Thanks for stopping by. Below is the same information I post on each painting post during this challenge to explain it to new visitors.

What’s the point of the 30 Paintings in 30 days challenge?

I want to be a better painter. To be a better painter, I must paint more and more.

The whole point of the challenge is to get yourself back in the habit of painting everyday. Now I haven’t stopped painting, but I certainly haven’t painted as much as I wanted in the last few months. So I’m joining in with the challenge to give myself a goal and to help me to feel held accountable, too. Not that the Painting Police will come and pick me up if I don’t paint everyday, it’s more of a self motivation thing. I’ve signed up on Leslie’s website and I’m hoping to be able to accomplish a lot of painting.

I’m not expecting to get gallery worthy paintings each day, I may not even paint a whole new painting each day. I’ve been there done that and that was stressful. I put the stress on myself, but nonetheless, it was stressful. I do hope to foster the act of going into my studio each and every day to get more painting accomplished. You know what they say about habits, it takes 21 days to form one. It will help me get better by practicing more and more.

See the blog posts of the paintings I’ve painted during this challenge here or see the paintings ganged up on my Paintings Archive Page. Thanks for stopping by.

About Me

Learn more about me on the ‘About’ page in the menu at the top. I’m an artist – a painter mostly and an avid gardener. I paint a variety of subjects including birds, koi fish, my gardens, ponds and flowers as well as anything having to do with nature especially trees and tropical scenes. I also enjoy painting abstracts and have started creating more and more of them. My most favorite thing to try to achieve in my painting is mystery.

If you would like to keep up with what I’m doing, join my email list. About once a month I send out a letter that gives you invitations for shows, birthday greeting, sneak peeks at new work and more. I’d love for you to add your email to my Friends and Collectors list!