Flamingo Heaven

Where do flamingos go when they die? A front lawn in Florida apparently. They have some garden gnomes and smurfs to keep them company. This painting was inspired by a  trip I took to Florida a long time ago, the car in the parking spot complete with faux skull in the back window (flamingo hell?) was an actual vehicle I saw in Pelican Cove St. Petersburg Fla. There were also these reflective balls on pedestals all over the place, so I put a few in here too.

Depicting bright colours when painting is all about the contrast, you want to put the bright colour up against some neutrals and contrasting colours, in the case the earthy green of the front lawn and the cool blue of the sky present the perfect backdrop for the candy-pink flamingos. I also faded the pink in birds near the house, and kept the pink at maximum saturation for the birds in the foreground. I wish one day I can paint flamingos in person, that is sitting in front of them. I wonder what they smell like, bubble gum?

14" x 11" (35 x 28 cm) Cold press Watercolour 2002