Yesterday’s Koi was a tough act to follow. But it inspired me to return to water imagery and paint one of my favorite flowers, Lotus. I felt mellow while working on this quiet, peaceful subject that often appears in my meditation videos.
You would be surprised to find out how hard it is to get a beautiful image of a lotus with shimmering light shining down through its transparent leaves. I had looked on the web a while back when I was doing a white lotus commission, but the client eventually provided her favorite photo.
The inspiration for this painting came from our visit to the New York Botannical Gardens (NYBG) on Jay’s birthday in 2015. We went to see the Frido Kahlo Show, featuring this recreation of her home garden.
It was a beautiful day to tour the NYBG and perfect for taking water pictures. The skies were blue, the water gleaning, and the angle of the light was just right to cast reflections.
I liked the pink lotus in the left and zoomed in on it. That’s the one I went with for Day 16.
Multiple photos were used as source materials. While I started this painting in daylight, I painted most of it during the evening. There’s always a little bit of trepidation when I come downstairs the next morning. You never know if your painting is going to look good or not. This one did.
Painting itself was pretty straightforward. You probably already know the drill. I started with the blue water, then the green lily pads. I switched to the dark reflection for contrast and depth (dark over the lighter water), making sure that the transparency came through, and letting the wobbly shapes define the slightly rippling water.
Then I turned the lotus leaves, cognizant of overlapping forms and shadows; struggling a little with the color (need to order magenta paint). Towards the end, the highlights were re-worked throughout, and contrasting edges were added around the lily pads.
These gentle greens and pinks were surprising hard to photograph. The greens come out too acidic (disappointing but a give-up since this is the Challenge), which I could fix if I had Photoshop. The color in the partially finished painting above is closer to the real thing – which is delightful in person.
I’m a little over halfway through the Challenge, and running out of space on my piano. I’m happy with my progress – even if I’m a bit behind after going to the New York Philharmonic on Saturday night (couldn’t resist Beethoven and Brahms) and having lunch with a good friend yesterday. It felt better when I was ahead of the curve.
On to Day 17. I’m planning to find a way to give myself some breathing space, perhaps with a drawing latter this week. Hope you stop by tomorrow.
Are you from NY or were you on vacation and visiting the gardens here? I love seeing your pieces and reading about how you went about doing them. Nice!!
We live in New York, about 20 minutes from the gardens. Thanks for letting me know you’re reading my blog. It’s an incentive to keep going. Sometimes I think about skipping the writing to get more sleep. The better answer is to be more efficient.