Flower Composition. Assignment 5. Paphio

Paphio flower from Assignment 4

Following on from the  previous assignment, I decided to paint the whole plant of the paphio. Not much time at the moment because of other work. Not sure I read the brief properly here....that means I know I didn't.

Paphio Composition. Too much foliage! Hate this and it's heading for oblivion!

 Orchids are such obliging flowers and stay in bloom for long periods so are perfect for slower painters or those that have a limited amount of time each day. I think I fit into both of these categories.   Unfortunately I made the fatal error of not reading the brief properly for this assignment! so I carried on with the work oblivious to the fact that I was supposed to include various aspects of the flower! As a result I had only painted the central flower, then decided to read the assignment as I was about to pop it in the envelope. There was a clue in the word 'composition' and to my horror that I hadn't met the brief!  I tried not to panic and proceeded to add two further flowers ( showing front and back views)  I suppose I  was lucky in that the Paphio has more than one flower. So my lesson here was to read and re-read all assignment texts! It's pretty shocking considering that I'd worked as a freelance illustrator for over 15 years but for some reason these courses turn the brain to mush ! I wouldn't make this mistake again....would I?

Tutor comments:Anyway the surprise was that I got an exceptionally high mark for this from Margaret Stevens! yes she seems to be my tutor for a lot of the assignments! I had raised my own concern about the symmetry in the arrangement of the flower heads but she said she liked it, it reminded her of the Mikado 'Three Little Maids' and that in this case it worked, she didn't have any adverse comments..wow!