Peonies Pt. 2

I did decide to continue on with the peony painting today. From photo reference this time. I find that it’s useful to start paintings from life - it can be difficult to get the energy or feeling of life starting from a photo. But painting from life comes with a lot of distractions and often times all the extraneous information makes finishing a painting from life difficult. I find the second half of the painting is more about taking the raw material from the first half and focusing it into a good painting. That’s what I tried to do today. I rather like the direction the painting is taking. I think I’m nearing the end of the painting. At this stage, I usually leave the painting alone for a few days before coming back to finish the last 10%-ish. Or I get bored and leave it to sit for a year - one or the other…

In a perfect world, I’ll be showing the finished product a week or so from now. For the time being, here are a few more details from the painting as it sits on the easel now.

-ZR