February’s Koi Playground

I’ve always wanted to try painting water lillies and wherever I see them, I take photos. The tricky part is getting a good reflection and a good composition of the spiraling pattern of leaves. Often I’ve had a nearby building refllected and the hard edges in the water reflection just aren’t attractive.

So this painting is painted from a photo of lily pads I took in Kauai at the Kiahuna Plantation. I loved the bright color against a dark setting and the flicker of koi. I knew I wanted to start with a dark background and I had a painting that didn’t go so well, so it was a perfect one to experiment with and it helped to have something to cover up. The original painting was a self portrait painted from a window reflection at night so it was really strange looking! So somewhere at the bottom of the koi pond is a very unsuccessful selfie!