Date: 7/22/2013
Location: Captain Cook
Size: 36" x 48"
Medium: Oil on stretched canvas
Artist's Comments: There have been very few times I was asked to create a painting based on a single color. For this project the collectors only request was that the painting be centered on red tones. They wanted the subject to be from Hawaii and although the primary color needed to be red, the other colors in the room were tan, blue, rust and fuchsia. In picking a subject we decided to capture a wild grove of heliconia and as I developed the painting I wanted the feeling of light filtering thru the jungle. I took inspiration from the late Darrell Hill's work as he so expertly was able to capture the filtering of light, shadow and color in his floral scenes. I also wanted the one of the blooms to take the primary focussing a secondary bloom in shadow with the remaining blooms feeling as if they are in the distance. I used a combination of color changes in the blossoms combined with lighting from the background to help the viewer focus on the primary blossoms. Colors darken and lose vibrancy as they reach the edges of the canvas. The very last strokes from my paintbrush were reserved to apply the brightest highlights to mimic where the delicate petals captured the rays of warm sunshine.
To view other paintings in my collection, click on the section labeled "View all SitaScapes" located at the top right of my blog. I have categorized my paintings by the month as I complete them.
