Fleur de Lis

Finally finished the "Fleur de Lis."

Iris Progress

This paper is truly a challenge to me! I am used to working on Arches 140lb CP and this is very different. I like that I can lift and lightly scrub. On the other hand, I am not used to having to do either. I need to work on this paper more.

It's coming along...

New Year, New Projects!

I hope everyone's new year has gotten off to a great start.

My first new project for the new year...The Purple Iris I painted a few months ago. This one is much larger at 10 x 14 and more detailed. I am working on Arches 300lb HP.

I will be back soon to post updates.

Thanks for visiting my blog!

Iris

I love these Iris and their purple color!

They grow in my yard and I have intended to paint them for several years but have never taken the time...until now.

Here it is...

Here it is...now I need to come up with a title...before Monday.

Progress Shot

I'm happy with how the roses are coming along and I am obviously not going to make the May 15th show with the watercolor society. This willl be ready for the June Open Show at the art center.

Fresh Start

I missed a very important step in this entire process. I always enlarge my reference photo in sections so that I can have a better understanding of what I am trying to convey to the viewer. For some reason I didn't do that until a few days ago. Needless to say I spent a couple of hours lifting and scrubbing so that I could get to a place where I could have a fresh start.

We have several inches of snow which is the most we have seen in 10 years or more so we went out for a while yesterday checking on family members but today I plan on staying inside and spending some extra time on this painting. Thanks for stopping by!

Whew!!!!

Here is a shot of the progress I am making on the crystal vase of roses.

Whew!!!!

Merry Christmas!

Wishing

everyone

a very

Merry

Christmas!

Directors Award

"Summer Elegance" won the Director's Award at the Fountain City Art Center Member's Show.

I had originally called it Queen of Hearts but the name never felt adequate for such an elegant flower.

This is the painting I started in January for the Dogwood Arts Festival not realizing the entry deadline was only one week away!

"Spring Cascade"

Finally "Spring Cascade is finished!

I have to say I learned so much from working on this painting. When I chose the photo for this I thought, "How difficult can painting white flowers be, I've painted them before?" That was my first mistake, they aren't white but the softest blush of pink. 

My favorite part was and still is the way the buds cascade from the top down the left side of the painting.

"Spring Beauty ~ Revised"

This is the revised version of the Rhodie (below) that had the brick wall as a background. After scrubbing the bricks I layered Winsor Violet then Cobalt and Winsor Yellow allowing each layer to dry before proceeding to the next.

Finally I dripped color (including some opera and rose madder) and let it run while I held the painting upside down. I also took some of the WV and darkened some of the shadows on the petals, added some highlights to the leaves and lost some of the edges.

I am not sure if this shows on your monitor but the main color of the background is Winsor Violet which seems a little too blue in this photo. I will live with this for a few days and probably end up tweaking it a little more.

I still plan to paint this on a full sheet at some point AFTER I finish the crystal vase of roses.

Have a great day!

Coming Along

Another update on the pale pink flowers of "Spring Cascade."

I have worked on the values and adding color to make it more lively. I am still not happy with the shadow in the center flower but I will work on that over the next few days.

Have a great rest of the weekend!

Ugly Duckling Update

I think I may have over reacted...just a little...ok...quite a bit.

After scrubbing my deep, purple shadows and areas of the rose madder wash, which I liked when I first applied it, I walked away and thought about what I wanted to accomplish and how I wanted the flower to look. The advice I was given was well intended but it was not my style to paint that way. Now if this will work with the other shadows I think this painting will be worth framing!

The Ugly Duckling

Here it is...the ugly duckling! This painting is at that terrible stage where I would just as soon throw it away! I am not going to of course but I have thought about it. 

I was given advice to have nice, strong shadows at the same time I thought maybe some should be stronger than others. I chose to go against my gut feeling and painted all strong shadows. I should have listened to myself and then if it wasn't right I could have darkened them.   

I painted a wash of rose madder over the flower on the left (with the arrow pointing toward it) and was not happy since I want the flowers to retain the white in the petals. If you look closely you can see that I have begun scrubbing heavily on the flower to lift much of the damage I have done. O well, as a wise friend of mine said, "Art is also about learning."