Water Lily at the Hilton

Water Lily

9 x 12 soft pastels on Art Spectrum Colourfix

Miki Willa

I think I have solved the lighting situation in my little studio. At least I can see the colors of the pastels before I pick them up now. That was a good thing this morning since I decided to do this on black paper. I was going for the dramatic effect.

The weekend after our furniture was shipped, we stayed a couple of nights at the Hilton Hawaiian Village in Waikiki. What a beautiful place! There are several lily ponds on the grounds, all teaming with beautiful carp. Fortunately, there were blooms in each pond. I took several photos, but I liked the composition in this one the best. I attempted to paint a lily pond painting before, and was not happy with it. I like this one much better. I am especially happy with the depth I was able to attain in the flower.

I tried to get some carp in the photos, but I was concentrating on composition, and the fish just wouldn't hold still. I do have other references of this kind of fish. Perhaps I will be able to combine references when I get moved and have my computer back again.

Pastels and Purple Cone Flowers

Purple Cone Flowers

9 x 12 soft pastels on Art Spectrum Colourfix

Miki Willa

I have been thinking about these flowers for months now. They may not be the most showy flower in the garden, but they are one of my favorites. On my trip across the U.S. several years ago, we stopped at a garden with fields of cone flowers. There were butterflies everywhere, enjoying all that nectar. I liked the flowers so much, I planted some in my garden in Washington.

For this painting, I started with the darkest green first in the background, after I did a pretty detailed sketch in charcoal. Then I built up the greens until I had the effect I was looking for. Next, I did the cones. I think there is more detail in the cones than I usually do, but I like the way they turned out. The petals were last. Overall, I am glad I finally decided to do this. Flowers often intimidate me, but I think I am getting better with them.

Beautiful Lehua

Beautiful Lehua

7 x 10 soft pastels on Art Spectrum Colourfix

Miki Willa

The lehua is the blossom on the ohia tree. There is a wonderfull legend about the tree here. These trees grow all around the volcano area on the Big Island.

I was all set to do another painting when a vision tugged at me of the lehua. I started out with the velvety white part, adding the shadows where I saw them. I used several reds and oranges for the rest of the flower. I thought about putting in more distinct leaves, but decided to leave that for another painting. Enjoy the legend and the flower.

Looking back

The Craft Fair

9 x 12 soft pastels on paper

Miki Willa

I can't seem to shake this cold and it is very hard to get to the easel. I am sharing one of my first daily paintings. I didn't even get to bring it home to show my husband and it sold right off the easel. It was very fun to do, and I may try something similar from another photo of flowers at a flower market in Hilo. It will be interesting to see it turns out since I approach things a bit differently these days. I am hoping to start painting again tomorrow morning. Thanks for being patient.

Wisteria

Wisteria

10 x 7 soft pastels on Art Spectrum Colourfix

Miki Willa

This wisteria is from another photo of my former garden. I love the way wisteria looks when it is in bloom. It is one of my favorite flowers. In the winter, when the canes are bare, all the tangles also create an interesting look. I was going to do this as a square painting, leaving out the two plumes at the bottom right. Now, I am not sure what possessed me to leave them in.

Abstract Painting versus Non-representational

Hey! Look At Me

7 x 5 soft pastels on Art Spectrum Colourfix

Miki Willa

For most of my life, I have referred to all art that is not realistic as abstract. I may have excluded the impressionists from the broad brush description. Whether it was cubist, fauvist, surreal, or that giant canvas painted red with the yellow square in the center, it was all abstract. No one has ever corrected me, so I have gone on thinking that way. Yesterday, I read the second chapter in Finding Your Visual Voice by Dakota Mitchell with Lee Haroun and discovered there is a difference, and when you are talking about abstraction, varying degrees. Dakota defines non-representational art as having no definable subject from the real world. Given that definition, only the red canvas with the yellow square would be non-representational. Dakota goes further to state that most representation art is, to some degree, abstract. Interesting notions. When I finish the book, I will do a review here.

At the end of each chapter, there are exercises to do to help you find your visual voice. This chapter suggests you try a non-representation piece. I am just not there yet. I don't understand color and composition nearly well enough to attempt it. I decided the best I could do was a loose abstract of one of my favorite flowers. These Oriental Poppies were growing in my old garden next to a group of purple flowering plants, whose name I can't remember. It was almost outside my comfort zone, but far more comfortable than it would have been two years ago. Just another step along the journey.

Simultaneous Contrast

A Rose by Any Other Name

7 x 7 soft pastels on Art Spectrum Colourfix

Miki Willa

Believe it or not, the rose is the same in both pictures. In the first one, I took the photo before I put in the light background. Before I took the second photo, I put on a light background because I thought it would work better. I am just amazed at the difference. The photos were taken under the same conditions. The colors of the rose appear totally different, but I can assure you I didn't touch the rose, only the background. The green in the leaves is even different.

Richard McKinley wrote a column here about why this happens. It is called Simultaneous contrast. It is the notion that every color, or value, will respond differently depending on what it is next to. While I have been exploring light values in my paintings, I can see how this works in creating shadows while still using lights. A darker light next to white becomes very dark if there are no other darks around. I am going to have to work to apply that to my landscapes where I do distant mountains or meadows.

In the pink

Pua nani

7 x 9 soft pastels on Art Spectrum Colourfix

Miki Willa

Plumeria blossoms come in a variety of colors. Most of them are cream with pale yellow highlights. They also come in pinks with orange and red centers. They have a very strong and sweet fragrance, and are a favorite for making lei. I thought these would be good for my light value work. Today, I really missed not having white in my collection of pastels. There are some edges I wanted more pure white, but I had to make due with my palest cream. Maybe I will break down and get a stick of white for special occasions.

Monstera

Monstera

7 x 10 soft pastels on Art Spectrum Colourfix

Miki Willa

The real flower is larger than the painting. We have these giant leaved plants that grow around tree trunks in the forests here. They are Monstera plants. I have seen them for years, but I had never seen a blossom. A couple of months ago, when I was on the Big Island, I was getting ready to go into Big Island Candies when I spotted this flower in the parking lot. The plant was growing up a light pole and this nearly two feet high blossom was sticking off to one side. When I was looking for something to paint during my study in light values, I came across my photo. My challenge was to turn form on the center part while keeping it as light as it needed to be, without using white. The photo just barely shows it. It works better on the real painting.

Value and Hue

White Hibiscus

7 x 10 soft pastels on Art Spectrum Colourfix

Miki Willa

There is so much to learn, and remember, about color as it applies to painting. I spent a little time doing some research today and discovered some new things, and refreshed my understanding on things I already knew. Here are just a few interesting tidbits from my journey.

Yellow is the first color the eye recognizes. This is important to remember in a painting. Using bright yellow away from the focal area can draw the eye away. Using it in a pattern that leads toward the focal area will bring the eye there. Judicious use is important because yellow is also the most fatiguing color in the spectrum. Statistics show that couples fight more in a yellow kitchen. Check this out at http://www.colormatters.com/optics.html.

Value was at the top of my research list today. As I see it, value has to do with the darkness or lightness of a hue (color). Value defines form and creates spacial illusion in paintings. If values are close, shapes will seem to flatten out and seem closely connected in space. None will stand out from the others. Value is very important in creating aerial perspective.

Tomorrow, I will look more at hue and simultaneous contrast. For more on value and hue, check out http://www.wetcanvas.com/ArtSchool/Hagan/color_psychology2.htm and http://pastel-pointers.pasteljournal.com/default,month,2007-08.aspx.

The painting was done without using white. My goal was to create a white flower using light value pastels that would indicate white.

Christmas Croton

Christmas Croton

2.5 x 3.5 Pastel pencil on Art Spectrum Colourfix

Miki Willa

I thought I would try my hand at the ATC, or artist trading card. Tom took a photo of a wonderful green, red, pink croton. Most of these plants here have oranges and browns. I decided this would make an interesting Christmas card since it resembles the poinsettia. Working that small is quite a challenge, and I stuck with my pastel pencils. In my travels through WC, I have been really impressed with some of these miniature paintings, or ATCs. Some of the artists do complete and wonderful landscapes in that size. I also understand that there is an Ebay community where artists sell these cards. There are quite a few collectors out there. I am not sure I will do many this size, but I may try a few more since I have the cards already cut.

Late Autumn

I think I have finished this one. I think it is a 9 x 12, but I haven't measured it. I wish the photo was better. Next time, I will work it in Photoshop until the brights are the way they are in the actual painting. I am happy with the sagging roof and the leaning bell tower.