Every year I choose a recently created painting to be featured on my annual holiday card. This year I am thrilled with the painting, “Water Lilies.” The water lily painting was inspired by a small pond with water lilies at Zichron-Yachov Park in Israel. After returning from my trip in April, I hesitated to paint them for months because I wondered if painting the waterlilies might be cliche. It seems that nearly every representational artist has painted their personal rendition of water lilies.
The day I visited the park the sun was strong causing high white highlights on the lily pads and the water to appear nearly black in certain areas. The high contrast is what attracted me to this scene. I actually used a very deep red/violet color mix for the deep shadows in the water. Placing strong white highlights on the green leaves against the deep red-violet offers a very desireable high-contrast complimentary color pop. The 40″ x 30″ painting is acrylic on canvas, $1100.
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