The Artist - UK (2019-12)

46 artistDecember 2019 http://www.painters-online.co.uk

MIXED MEDIA

Irises

Soraya French finds plenty of

inspiration from irises – as she says,

their shapes and colours provide an

ideal opportunity to explore different

compositions in vibrant mixed media

I

love all flowers, but when it comes

to painting some have the ability to

get the creative energy flowing more

than others. The iris is one of those

flowers, and all types of this gorgeous

flower have been painted over and over

by numerous artists, the most being a

series of paintings of irises by Vincent

Van Gogh during his stay in the asylum

at St Remy in France. His magnificently

lively and swirling brushmarks captured

the beauty of these stunning flowers

with great movement and energy.

Irises adorn flower gardens with

their majestic presence in late spring

and early summer. The showy flowers

stand proud in their stunning colours

and command attention, sometimes

overshadowing other flowers nearby.

The iris family includes flowers in every

shape and colour imaginable. There

are wild as well as cultivated forms,

so apart from flower borders, they can

be found along the grassy riverbanks,

meadow lands and even colder rocky

mountainous areas, although they

originate from milder climates of

Europe and Asia. The name iris comes

from the Greek word for rainbow, which

reflects the astonishing range of colours

within the iris family.

Colour

Irises come in a wide variety of colours

and combination of colours, although

in the red spectrum the colours tend to

be either lighter orange, cooler pinks

or much richer reds such as burgundy

and crimson, rather than a true bright

red. The colour combinations are an

artist’s dream. They include white,

yellow, the most beautiful shades of

pink and blue purple, light orange,

peach, rich dark reds and near blacks,

and a combination of these colours

plus some unique markings and a

bright dash of yellow or orange at

the centre of the falls. To achieve the

pink and blue purples you must have

quinacridone magenta amongst your

primary reds and a tube of ultramarine

blue amongst your blues.

Shapes

Regardless of their colour combination

irises are one of most striking flowers.

When we talk about the iris, the

immediate picture that comes to mind

is that of the more common varieties

such as the bearded iris or flag irises,

but in reality there are many different

shapes and sizes of these beautiful

flowers. So there is a staggering

number of shapes to explore, some of

which can be quite complex, so careful

observation is needed and the

concept of lost-and-found edges

becomes rather crucial in making a

successful painting of groups of irises.

Too many enclosed shapes can make

the painting look over-worked and

contrived.

They have particularly attractive, long

and slender sword-like foliage that

complements the flowers beautifully

and makes a perfect backdrop for

the flower heads. To paint the foliage

successfully it is best to find most of

their shapes by painting the negative

spaces around them rather than

painting lots of stripy positive shapes

that can be rather awkward. Irises have

three upright petals called standards

and three downwards petals called

falls. These vary so much in shape:

some are very frilly, large and elaborate

or they can be rather plain. Some

have quite distinctive and attractive

markings. Some irises look magnificent

in real life but don’t fare so well as

a subject for painting. So choose

carefully and combine representation

and abstraction to create paintings with

more interesting passages.

The often large flower head lends

itself to be painted as a single flower,

in which case you can go to town with

detail and abstraction. Compositions

made up of a number of irises can be

very interesting, with both abstract and

representational shapes to explore and

exciting colours to enjoy.

t Riverside Iris, watercolour, 12 3 8in (30.5 3 25.5cm).

My students and I came across some beautiful dark red irises hidden

in long grass on the side of a riverbank, whilst on a painting trip in

Sabarat in the south of France. A chance encounter with gorgeous

lowers that you normally see in their cultivated form in gardens is

always quite a thrilling experience and an added joyful subject matter

to the already beautiful scenery.

TA