#9: Watercolor Hibiscus & Bougainvillea

8.5"x 5.5", 140# cold press, watercolor & ink

A visit to Florida gave me the opportunity to pull out my travel watercolor set and paint some flowers.  I sketched the hibiscus several times prior to get a handle on the petals.  This is a double hibiscus, and more of a challenge than the typical kind.  It was great fun.

I've been wanting to do ink & wash for the longest time, and finally jumped in and experimented.  I love the Pigma Micron 005 pen, as I wanted a delicate line.  There were some obstacles here that might not be readily apparent.  140# paper is not too much fun to work on.  There was no ability to stretch it, and so when I tried to do the wash on the table, it pooled in ways I wasn't happy with.  I also had a Winsor & Newton Cotman watercolor kit, so the colors were extremely limited, and I only had one #4 brush that was falling apart as I was using it, leaving bits of the paint coating from the brush itself on the paper and in the water.  Yes, I could upgrade my materials, but I am quite cheap, and once I've used up the paint, I'll probably upgrade.  I can definitely tell the difference between student grade and artist grade, as my usual supplies are artist grade and I have a penchant for 300# hot press.  Nevertheless, it was fun and I might develop this into a more finished work.  I took lots of pictures and to have the ability to get it the way I want it is very compelling.  Stay tuned!

Without further ado, here's the rundown:

What I like about this:
- LOVE the orange hibiscus with hints of pink (still on my orange kick)
- LOVE working with ink & wash
- like the composition (I always seem to...hmmm)
- love the color

What I don't like about this:
- I messed up the glass
- I messed up the table
- I forgot the light source--arrgh!
- I don't like the line in the middle of the handle
- don't like the upper right bouganvillea blossom--shouldn't have colored the stamens (?) in with ink

Overall, it was a great diversion.  Onward & upward, as my dear Mom always says!:)

#8: Daffodil Solo

6" x 6", oil, 3 hours

This lovely daffodil was blooming in my garden, so in it came to star in my latest still life project!  I again tried to push myself not to overdo it, and was somewhat successful.  Quinacridone magenta, cad yellow medium, cobalt blue + titanium white were all I used, along with a teeny bit of Neo Megilp.  I like the cohesiveness of the color I get when I restrict my palette.  I toned the canvas with a wash of Quinac Magenta and Gamsol, as the Quinac is transparent.  It was a pretty pink ground when I started to paint over it.

Things I like:
- love the color (still on my orange kick)
- the vase came out really well
- relatively happy with the composition
- did a few sketches and a value study for a road map

Things I don't like:
- the daffodil petals are overworked
- hmm...not a whole lot else!

I'm pretty happy with this one.  I think I knocked the background back enough.  Pretty good for #8!:)

P.S.  Click on the picture for a closer look.

Painting #7: Tangelo Tango

Oil, 6"x 6," completed in 2 sessions

I'm attempting to loosen up and paint a bit faster, focusing on the big shapes, and using a bigger brush.

What I like:
- composition is relatively interesting
- the tangelo--I feel like I achieved some turning of the form
- some of the folds of the dishcloth

What I don't like:
- the lemon: for some reason it was pretty difficult for me
- the rest of the folds
- the background is too green & competes with the subjects

What I learned:
- my first time using Neo Megilp for a medium & liked it
- to knock back the background, gray it down
- take the time to do a quick value study beforehand
- practice drawing folds to get familiar with them
- try to relax, lol!

Onward & upward!:)

Painting #6: February Pear, Oil, 6"x6"

Okay!  First post done in oils.  Pretty quick study.  I blocked in the colors, then refined.  Here it is:

What I like:
- love the color combo of orange, green & blue
- I like how easy the composition was
- the variation of the background orange
- I didn't labor over this one (& perhaps it shows, LOL!)

What I don't like:
- the detail on the tablecloth is too rough, perhaps
- the pear is pretty rough
- it looks like the tablecloth is vertical

But overall it was fun.  I wasn't able to use any medium, so made do with just the paint.  Hmm.  I need to figure out this medium stuff, because I like my paints to flow.

#5: A Riff on a Tahoe Tiger Lily

The actual size of this wildflower we found in Tahoe is about an inch and a half in diameter.  When I took the picture, I didn't realize there was a bug inside it, so of course I had to include it.  As always, there are parts of this I like and parts I don't.

Here's what I like:

composition is pretty good
colors are great
like the highlighting
I feel like I did a better job with shadows on the petals


And what I don't:
the interior of the flower is a bit messed up
There are water marks outside the leaves that I must not have wrung out my brush enough to avoid

Here's what I learned:

How to lift off paint to get the highlights

Not to stick with just aureolin yellow and alizarin crimson, but to introduce quinac gold to get more variation in the oranges

I'm doing a better job of figuring out how to slightly alter the values to get more realistic shadows on the petals

I tried to make the leaves fade more into the background by roughing up the their lines after I removed the masking fluid
----
Hmm..  Not sure if I should've added more background leaves, but I felt because the flower was so busy, the background should be simple

#4: Hydrangea

Just finished this the other day.  There are obvious issues with the composition, but I love the color.  Here it is:

Like:

color
drawing (not the composition)


Dislike:

composition
every petal on each flower is different

Onward & upward!  Still learning...

Painting #3: Stargazer Lily Study

I went a little crazy with the dots, but I like the repetition.  Here it is:

Things I like about this:

I like the background
I like the color
I like the composition

Things I don't like:

Probably too many dots ;)
Some of the background leaves are bad

Things I learned:

I'm getting better at softening edges
I felt a little more in control (!)
Though it sat around for awhile, it went faster
Next time, I won't wet the paper and then do dots--or lines, as they fade into nothingness!!

What I'll do next time:

Plan the background, not do it willy-nilly (like I did here)
Get a photographic reference

Overall, I am beginning to see improvement.  And that's a good thing.:)