Tulips in Glass Bowl with Aluminum Pitcher

20″ x 24″
Oil on canvas

This still life was my first adventure into setting up flower arrangements to be photographed for my paintings. I probably spent more time on the background then the rest of the painting combined. I have seen more good paintings ruined by bad backgrounds. Backgrounds seem to be the least important part of the painting. Wrong! They can pull a painting apart and distract the eye from the center of interest. I used a glass bowl for the tulips because it was all I had. That is when I realized the glass bowls where the stems show add interest to the painting.