Monthly Archives: April 2011

"Sun Dance"

This Saturday, April 23rd, from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., “Linda Rauch Gallery” will be at Mimi’s Restaurant for an art show. I would like to invite everyone to come on out and enjoy the spring weather here in Bee Caves, Texas. For those of you that don’t know where that is, it is just southwest of Austin, Texas. I will have paintings, watercolors, prints, and gift sets available. Rick Hewitt will be showing copper wind dancers, copper butterflies and copper vines. For those of you that already have plans for this Saturday, remember that you can come on out to our gallery in Spicewood, Texas. We are open here weekly. For a map to our gallery click on the gallery tab at the top of the page.

This painting was a piece that I painted for our son Christopher and his wife Rita. I named it “Wedding Day” because it has the colors of their wedding in it. The painting has flowers that bloom in the spring, which is when they were married. This painting combines the reds and purples that were sprinkled throughout the wedding ceremony. I chose the pale pinks to represent the softness of a wedding, and the reds to represent the passion of young love. The style that I chose is a combination of what Chris and Rita liked in two very different paintings. It is mid-way between the softness of Monet, and the boldness of my hard edge fantasy style. Chris liked the hard edge bold paintings, and Rita liked the soft impressionist style that I paint in. This painting brings both styles together for them.

Available in various sizes, prices vary. “Click here to inquire“.

Shipping:
Small pieces – $13.00, large paintings – $25.00, large items

"Wedding Day"

This particular detail in Chris and Rita’s “Wedding Day” painting illustrates the depth that was achieved by using layering techniques.  The beginning of the painting was painted using the cool colors because they tend to recede.  After I painted the background colors in using greens, blues and purples, I sealed the painting with a thinned mixture of painting medium and water.

The next layer of colors were the pale pink poppies and the hot pink or crimson poppies.   If you look at the painting it appears as if the poppies are closer to you.  This is because of the medium I thinned, and also because warm colors advance.  This layer also included the lime greens seen in the poppy buds as well as the yellows in the native grasses.  After I was satisfied with these colors I sealed the painting once more.  

The final colors that I added were the bright red poppies and the large pink poppies in the foreground.  These colors appear as if they are very close to you.  This is because of the layering and also because warm colors advance. 

I found using both of these techniques together gives the appearance of great depth in the garden.  The next blog will show other details in the painting that I have discussed.