Work in Progress - Chinese Money Plant — rebecca tucker paintings

REBECCA TUCKER PAINTINGS_chinese money plant 010.jpeg

Official name is apparently Pilea peperomioides. Who knew?

For me it is ‘the roundy plant on our coffee table’ and with my new foray into negative space it is offering a lovely little opportunity to experiment with shapes and paint. I am working on the premise of a gestural background with the upper layer defining the shapes by filling in the negative space area. This gives two different textures as well as two different colours, and I think it plays with the eye as to which is foreground and which is background.

Then, the wet drips and runs of paint applied as a wash over the whole piece are really appealing, hopefully some of that will come back when it is varnished. The final image is another layer of pink in the negative space, which defines the leaves again but gives the background a bit more depth and interest. My last step will be to add the white outlines back in, a finishing touch.

I love how the ‘top’ layer defines the background and the green layer which sits to the back of the painting becomes foreground when the eye makes sense of it all.

Now I'm off to find other items/plants/people with interesting negative space….for more go to my instagram feed…