Painting from rote memory is like painting from ether with a shackle. Whatever image we have in our head is the carcass of countless times of emulation and practice. Typically, we are taught a sequence of brushstrokes to describe the object that we are painting. It can be a flower, an animal, a boulder, whatever. Thumbing through the Mustard Seed Garden compendia and there's no shortage of such examples. The inevitable downside of such practices is that we're indoctrinated subconsciously that these are the only correct, or acceptable way to paint. As a student, it is a marvelous and methodical way to progress, not knowing that creativity and originality can sometimes be the suppressed.
I ask myself, why don't I try to paint something real. Not so much as en plein air but at least having some concrete reference points. So I dig out my photographs of lotus plants and see if any of them fit the bill.
I have plates of dried-up color from past painting sessions that I commandeered for this exercise. Too lazy to mix new colors. Afterall this is just a fun practice exercise and color accuracy is not my concern.
I know the color looks weird and not harmonious, but I'm not painting from ether either. I am trying to paint what I see and not from a figment of my imagination or whatever rote memory is left with me.
I'm now eager to try something a little more artistic.
Two lotus leaves reside at the bottom of my paper,
My reference photographs will be a blossom that is tilted to the right in this photograph.
I like this particular flower because my lotus leaves are too evenly placed, being parallel to each other. I need that tilted flower to create some motion. The white petals also contrast with the dark leaves, sort of having a back-and-forth conversation. The dark leaves are also flanked by light colored leaves just for contrast and perspective.
I shift the stem of the flower to the extreme left, to accentuate the tilting of the flower. I am also including a budding new leaf in the painting. It is an interesting accessory.
The overall mood of the painting is represented by a rather subdued color scheme, aided by the pensive moon.
I do like the tone of this piece of work. I am going to name it Nocturne.
