Rose Ann Wordcraft

High Hopes by Rose Ann Bernatovich "High Hopes", Rose Ann Bernatovich, 16 x 20, Oil on Canvas Board While strolling through Central Park in New York City one afternoon, I came across a balloon seller at work. His fistful of colorful balloons made me stop in my tracks as visions of the scene as a painting swirled in my head. The bold colors of the balloons versus the more subdued, blue-grey of his shirt and warm grey of the pants lit up all the creative parts of my brain. Then, there were the warm greens of the park versus the cool greens on the bench. Inspiration had struck like a thunderbolt. The balloon seller was so preoccupied with pumping air into his balloons for the day's sales that he didn't notice me reaching for my camera. That's exactly what I wanted. I would rather capture a spontaneous image, rather than a posed one.  The balloon seller finally noticed me, so I told him that I had taken some pictures that I'd like to use for making a painting. He ...

What's in the Background? by Rose Ann Bernatovich What goes on in the background is important. The hue (color), chroma (saturation), and value (the lightness or darkness) of a background can play a large role in creating a comprehensive design or an overall feeling in a painting. Let’s look at a few examples. The background in Hovsep Pushman’s “When Autumn Is Here”, 1930, works with the foreground to create tranquil harmony. Hovsep Pushman, “When Autumn Is Here”, 1930 Various complementary colors, like reds and greens, surrounded by yellows and purples fill the background. While the foreground is less chromatic than the background, the wilted flower in the little pot is the most chromatic part of the painting. Colors from the background are repeated in the foreground, but they have more opacity. This creates a sculptural quality in the foreground Buddha and pot. In contrast, the background depicts an ancient tapestry or mural, making a modern foreground versus a timeworn, devoti...