Peacock Feathers With Roses

Peacock Feathers With Roses

7x5in oil on canvas panel  SOLD

Artist Note

The beauty of the rose always astounds me,

but place it next to a peacock feather and real

competition for the top spot happens.

The real dilemma for the artist is deciding

which one wins.

Rose or Peacock Feather?

This is a pick-up from an older post.
Still swamped!

Peacock Feathers With Roses

Peacock Feathers With Roses

7x5in oil on canvas panel  SOLD

Artist Note

The beauty of the rose always astounds me,

but place it next to a peacock feather and real

competition for the top spot happens.

The real dilemma for the artist is deciding

which one wins.

Rose or Peacock Feather?

This is a pick-up from an earlier post.

Pretty swamped catching up after family visit.

Study

Study of Peacock Feathers

  6x6in     oil on canvas        not for sale

I checked to see if there was any information about peacock feather symbolism and found quite a few stories. My favorite goes all the way back to ancient Greece. The peacock was the patron bird of the goddess Hera. According to myth she paced "eyes" on its feathers, symbolizing all-seeing knowledge and the wisdom of the heavens.
I also read that most religions of the world include symbolic meanings to peacock feathers and they were all quite interesting.

As an artist I find them beautiful in color harmony and graceful fronds.


Artist Note:

Today I kept to transparent colors in thin washes where I could. I noticed significant color changes in the feathers themselves so I think an artist could just let loose with color and follow the shapes.
Of the two methods I think I prefer the more painterly application I did yesterday.

Ancient Glass with Peacock Feathers

Ancient Glass with Peacock Feathers

7X5in  oil on canvas board      90.

On one of my trips to visit my sister, Jenny, in England, she took me to Leeds Castle, Kent. Quite rightly claiming to be The Loveliest Castle in the World . One of the visual memories I treasure was of the magnificent peacocks allowing us to walk right past them on the moat bridge. The sun was shinning on the opened tails and I could not believe the purity and beauty of the colors. Truly amazing.


Artist Note:

The mission was to try and capture the iridescence of the peacock feathers. Hard to do on the first try. I like what I did but also want to try a glazing method where I would use the white of the canvas as a base for transparent colors. It would have been easier to do that to start, but I wanted to see if I could get the effect with opaque colors first as I prefer a more painterly quality.
It will be a good exercise to try again to see which method turns out the best.