Painting White Flowers

Flowers come in many brilliant colors, but white flowers (the absence of color) are my favorite color flower to paint.  I don’t actually paint “white.” I paint the subtle temperature changes of white, so a white flower can have yellow, green, blue, and purple, even red or orange. Vertical petals show the warmth of the sun through them. Where petals join the stem is warmer, so these areas have some yellow to them. Petals that are horizontal are lighter in color because the light is so bright where it hits. Where petals curve downward, there is a little bit of coolness. Petals that are in shadow can be quite cool in color and, therefore, quite blue. And then there are reflected colors.  The sky and leaves are subtly reflected in white petals. These temperature differences are what make a flower look three-dimensional. 

It sounds crazy to paint white as yellow, blue, or purple, but when you see the results, it looks right.  The temperature differences are what make a flower look three dimensional. Sometimes the job of an artist is to help the viewer see things they wouldn’t notice. Artists do this by exaggerating what’s there. The colors work because they are an exaggeration. I sometimes notice another artist’s paintings and think,
“Why didn’t I think of that?”

A dark background makes a white flower “pop.”  In this sense, you are painting what “isn’t” flower. It gives a backdrop for the white flower to really shine. 

Parallels in Life

As I was painting this flower, I thought about parallels in life.  People are not always what they appear to be. As we interact and get to know them (e.g. their three-dimensional form), they become more beautiful. Most people have beauty if you look for it.

In life, sometimes we play the starring role, but many times we play the supporting actor role (like the background for a flower). Philippians 2 says, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.” Christ himself took the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. It’s our relationship with Christ & other people (e.g. colors) that provides beauty, defines us, and gives us meaning (form).

People, like white flowers, are reflectors. We reflect what we value and what we have experienced. We certainly want to be reflections of Christ. And never underestimate the value of our reflections on others!