I am no botanic artist and I am too old to learn and train but I do appreciate a good source photograph to paint in oils.

This clematis bloom captured at an RHS trial gave me inspiration to get it painted.

Colours Contrast and Tone

1. Seldom are white flowers exclusively white but a mix of many colours and shades. School boy physics explained that white light could be split by a prism into all the colours of the rainbow.
2. The light source is full-on yet there are graduations of tone that stop short of full shadows.
3. The overlaid petals and the veins seem lighter and brighter.
4. The bottom leaves are dark blue-green which helps them to recede and provide much needed contrast.
5. Aesthetically I like the pistels and the lime green colouring.

Composition

1. The focal point is the flowers center. I could drop the intruding leaf from the left if I thought it conflicted with the prime focus but the round shape is pleasing.
2. The picture takes the eye round in a series of circles and ellipses and keeps the eye within the frame.
3. The colour scheme is simple and not too complex but the execution may be more problematic.
4. The focal point may be a bit too central but is offset by the second flower. In any event the final painting can be skewed left or right if desired.

I will attempt a painting and ‘may’ even show the result later