Gerbera Daisy Still Life - WIP

katu06 · #1 04-30-2012, 12:54 PM

MY IMAGE(S):

GENERAL INFORMATION:
Title: Gerbera Daisy Still Life - WIP
Year Created:
Medium: Pastel
Surface: Paper
Dimension: 16 x 20 inches
Allow digital alterations?: Yes!

MY COMMENTS:
I am making a still life piece for my girlfriend to celebrate buying a house together. This is just the outline to get started.

This is my first attempt at a still life of any form.

My first step was to use a pastel pencil and just draw everything out. It will be sitting on some sort of stand and that will be a white tablecloth under it.

I will start doing color soon (possibly tonight if I have time). I had to go into a photo editor and modify the coloring so everything can be seen. The original picture it is very hard to see anything but the flower petals.

MY QUESTIONS FOR THE GROUP:
1 - My main concern is simply how are my shapes? Does the vase look ok? I think my camera was just slightly off horizontal when I took the picture because everything seems to be slightly slanting. It all looks very level in person. I think the water level may not be perfect though.

2 - I always work in grayscale because I'm color blind. I think I can still make it pretty if the flowers are white. I may be able to add tiny bits of green to the stems so they aren't just gray. I'm sure it is hard to picture, but would that look ok?

ahmadaustin · #2 04-30-2012, 11:03 PM

Looks good so far. Are you afraid of color?

katu06 · #3 05-01-2012, 11:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ahmadaustin

Looks good so far. Are you afraid of color?

Yes. I think I may try it, but I'm really worried I will mess it all up.

Aires · #4 05-01-2012, 05:02 PM

This drawing is in the early stage planning stage- could you lossen up your floral arrangement a bit; this type of daisy tends to have a mind of its own so my sense is that perhaps a stray bud or leaves to loosen the overall design would be a happy addition.

song_bird · #5 05-01-2012, 06:12 PM

This is beautifully drawn, but the flower arrangement needs to be looser and fuller. Also note the proportions of the arrangement to the vase, height and width. It should complement the vase. I would also crop some of the bottom of the picture off. The line that looks like the bottom of the table top seems to be a pretty good point.

Here are some flower arrangements showing Gerber daisies.

http://www.google.com/search?q=gerber+daisy+arrangement&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hl=en&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=Vl2gT96T JNOtgQftrJGbDg&biw=1280&bih=601&sei=XF2gT-_1FoaZ0QHsksz_AQ

katu06 · #6 05-02-2012, 11:31 AM

So, I decided that being afraid of color I should probably try to overcome my fear. My problem though: I can't tell if my flowers are yellow or brown. There is a shadow on the left flower, but it doesn't look like a shadow. It just looks... gross?

I wish I had read your comments last night before I started coloring. At this point I probably won't be able to make my vase taller. It doesn't look as fat in person, it looks much more ... natural. I do agree in this picture it looks kind of odd though.

For the table I am planning on a marble top with a white tablecloth. That is what the lines at the bottom are.

Do my flowers look "looser" by chance? Or should I go back and work on the flower piece some more?

Any input is greatly appreciated! This is all very awkward to me. Haha.

**La_** · #7 05-02-2012, 01:27 PM

the flowers are yellow
(i'm hoping you plan to make them white)

lovely job on the vase highlights and reflections!
maybe check the back (top) curve of the vase, it has an odd angle on the left side?

the stem grouping looks tied together at the top - could be so, it's tidy and adds control vs natural splay, i kind of like it. (there's a similar image in the link provided by song bird)

la

katu06 · #8 05-02-2012, 03:28 PM

Thanks La!

I do think the back top left curve (wow) on the vase is a bit off. For some reason I had a hard time getting my highlights to apply to that section. I think that is what went wrong. I'll have to just re-do it.

The flowers I got at the store to base this painting on came with a rubber band about half way down. I moved the band all the way to the top so the top of the stems would be tight together. So you are correct

I decided to go with yellow just as an attempt to use color. I do kind of wish I had just used white.

song_bird · #9 05-03-2012, 05:32 PM

This is so beautifully done. I still think the flowers are too compact for the vase (maybe something could be added), but maybe that's just me. I think I would add more light and shadow to the petals but I like the softness you've conveyed. Your vase and water are spectacular.

M.L. Schaefer · #10 05-03-2012, 06:58 PM

The wonderful thing about pastels are that you can layer....add some white to the petals..! A color-blind artist - YIKES! But you know what, there are many watercolor artists that use all kinds of colors in, for instance, animals! Cows, Elephants, Dogs, bright colors! many colors! Can you still see some colors but they are switched out: i.e., red/green. If you use pastel sticks you can store in in separate boxes: Yellows/Blues/Greens/Oranges etc. When you "lay down the color" you would be able to see your lights and darks in that color and be able to easily pick up other colors for highlights, i.e., yellow flowers: orange to zing them up, whites to tone them down?

This is fascinating! And you have done such a wonderful job with the vase and the water!

Margarete

katu06 · #11 05-04-2012, 12:03 PM

song bird - Thank you! I do think I will go back and add some more light and shadow to the petals, they seem kind of flat to me.

M.L. Schaefer - Thanks for the feedback! I have seen some water color painted in that style. agnes-cecile does a fantastic job using that style to paint people. I do see color, but the issue is I don't fully understand what I'm seeing. I don't really know how to describe it other than that. For example: I swear those flower petals are brown. I know they are not, because I know I used a yellow stick to color them, but they look brown. There have been times when I have grabbed a "gray" stick only to smear it on the paper and find it is red or green. I'm usually able to figure out the color of my sticks though, as I keep them pretty orgainized (the issue comes when I put them away in the wrong spot).

I like the idea of orange to zing, and white to tone down.

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