Amaryllis, 2nd of April 2017.

Amaryllis was painted on 27th of March this year in the second attempt. I first attempted to paint it in a more expressive and stronger bloom on 17th of March, but I failed - I abandoned the painting. What happened is what regularly happens in a poorly prepared watercolor by a hesitant author - the color loses its vividness because of too much meddling around and overlaying which is a consequence of poor planning. Anyhow, time spent with the brush and a flower is never lost. It is an opportunity to get together and talk to yourself. Everybody needs that.

I am not overly satisfied with this painting either. There are several reasons for it. First, the "elasticity" of the bloom in ten days, from the first to second attempt, was diminished and the petals acquired folds which were not present when to flower was in its full strength. Second, I didn't manage to properly represent the color transitions, from orange to dark red and violet. Third, the time I had to paint was short so, having this in mind, I had to make decisions which I wouldn't make had I had more time.

Amaryllis comes from south Africa, but there are certain problems in its classification because it is often confused with genus hippeastrum which comes from south America. As far as I can see, the "amaryllis" of mine is almost certainly not amaryllis but hippeastrum, but hippeastrums are almost always sold under the name amaryllis. Confusion.

The painting above is the illustration of (proper) amaryllis, amaryllis belladona from Flore des Serres et des Jardins de l'Europe (1845 - 1888), the journal I already wrote about in the posts on >> brugmansia and >> hedge bindweed.

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Last updated on 2nd of April 2017.