Part I Orchid Triptych: Phalaenopsis

I am thinking a lot about the background.  Often this is the part of the painting put off to the end and then there is a crisis moment when you say "what do I do with the background?"  I have learned the hard way that the background is just as important as the rest of the painting.  I try to work foreground and background at the same time, pulling colors from the background into the foreground.  This next statement is to me,extremely

important in my paintings.  There needs to be both lost, soft and hard edges in your painting.  If this does not happen the effect is that appear objects pasted on and this definitely gives a non-painterly look to your work.

Because pencil has such a fine tip, it is easy to get caught up in trying to make everything perfectly clear.  To me this takes away from the realism instead of adding to it.  It is true sometimes less is really more.

Orchid Triptych

 Phalaenopsis

Oncidium 

Cymbidium

These are the drawings for my next colored pencil paintings. These are designed to hang together to form an orchid triptych, however, hopefully they will function as individual units as well.  To get the proportions right I used a grid method...drawing a grid on the photos and then on my drawing paper as well to aid in my drawing.  In this way you only have to deal with one square at a time.  Sometimes this gives an awkward feel to a drawing, so it is advisable to go back in and erase the grid and redraw areas that lack fluidity or appear visually incorrect.

I took the photos for these at the Conservatory of  Flowers in Golden Gate Park, two weeks ago, while on vacation in San Francisco. The building is a greenhouse made of wood and glass and painted white.  It appears unreal from a distance. This Victorian structure was completed in 1878.  It is filled with rare and exotic plants.  It is absolutely enchanting!!

I have seen orchids here in La Paz....I actually owned one that I promptly killed.  But, we are too hot and dry for these mist and moisture lovers to survive.  

Oh, and yes I did bring back a large bag of pencils.