Small video workshop study and question

I am completing a small strawberry study from Jacqueline Gnott's video " My Favorite Things". Jacqueline makes one take a real close-up look at a strawberry. Wow. I had never noticed all those small details before. Fascinating! Here is my humble  5" x7" rendition of Jacqueline's fruit:

My husband laughed yesterday afternoon as he found me in the kitchen taking pictures of almost every strawberry in the basket he had purchased earlier. I was looking for strawberries with stems...but there was none!!!

I will be in a two-day show at the end of July. Apparently last year not a single painting sold at that show:-(  I think I should have small paintings of this size either framed or just matted to offer some less expensive art. What do you think?

Most artists at that upcoming show work in oil or acrylic. I believe that there will be only one other watercolor artist. I found that surprising. That brought me to reflect on what medium is used on the various daily painters sites. Most daily  works are in oils; acrylic is next. Watercolor is fairly rare. Why is that?
Do people hesitate to buy online a painting that is either not yet framed or is framed in glass that could break in transit? Is it that watercolor is not popular or is perceive of lesser value than oil or acrylic paintings?

I would really like to hear your opinion on this topic.

Have a great Sunday.

Pink Peony - Finished- To crop or not to crop

As I was painting my Pink Peony I extended the background past what I intended to paint. I  can now leave it at 11" X 14" framed larger, or crop it to fit a 11X14 frame at about 8 X 11.
In the larger version, the peony does not have a stem and may look as if it is floating; however, I like the larger frame size and the background looks less crowded. However, some have already commented that the larger background detracts from the flower....Decisions, decisions!  Any advice? Below is the larger format .

Peony WIP part 4- Almost completed

There was an earthquake in Ottawa, Canada, today. My office building had to be evacuated and I finally went home around 3 pm...thus getting a bit of unexpected painting time. I worked on the petals of my peony. Unfortunately I worked after the natural sunlight was gone...I often make color choice errors with my artificial light. Once I had painted all the petals, I realized that all my petal colors were cool colors; so I quickly tried to add little hints of warmth here and there.|That probably was not very wise,,, Here is what the painting looks like photographed inside with a flash. I can't wait for tomorrow morning to see what it "really" looks like in daylight.  I still have quite a few finishing touches to add and a few imperfections to fix ( white streaks in the background because of smeared miskit, white that need softer edges etc).

Let me know what you think.

Pink Peony WIP - Part 3- beginning petals

Monday morning and work are fast approaching, so I took the plunge and started my petals. I added some masking to better keep some whites here and there. For the pinks, I have used Quin Rose with some cobalt and some Permanent magenta. On the right hand side, I have just started to warm up the pink a bit. I like the pinks beside the greens.

The colors are not quite accurate - I took it outside a few minutes ago, but it was already starting to get dark so the flash did go off.

Let me know what you think. Have a great week...I have a day off on Thursday...Whoopee! More painting time!

Pink Peony -Wip Part 2- the leaves

Finally, here is an update of my Pink Peony: I have now completed - for the time being anyway- the background and the leaves.  I have tried to keep the light mostly on the right hand side. I hope that these leaves don't look too overworked.
 What do you think?
I can't wait to start adding some color to the petals.

Pink Peony WIP

I have been having a lot of fun looking through all my recent photographs of peonies. It's now time to get down to work and use at least one of these photos as inspiration for a new watercolor.

 I intend to use many glazes to achieve a rich dark background as in the previous two peony paintings below.However, this time, instead of painting a white peony, I have chosen a soft pink one. The bloom was past its prime, but at least there was a bit of sunshine and shadows on this one.

Below you can see the work in progress on Arches bright white 140 lb CP. The size is approximately 11" X 14".

The first photo shows the work as I am leaving it tonight: the background is almost finished. It's black and dark green...The green may not show very much on certain monitors. The flower and leaves are covered with either liquid or film miskit.

 The second photo shows the drawing with the miskit. I spent more time than usual on this drawing: I worked on it during a two-hour train ride yesterday:-) I removed many leaves that were on the photograph..I will see if this was a wise decision of not...

I hope that I will find the time after work this week to complete this painting. I need a small painting for a show starting Sunday.. I will keep my fingers crossed that this one will be good enough. Otherwise, do you think the previous peony would do?

Have a great week.

2 features on Red Bubble in 2 days

I am thrilled that two of my paintings have been featured on Red Bubble in the last two days:
Southern Belle, today, on Painters in Modern Times -






This painting is sold, but it is one that I would like to paint again, with a different background perhaps.

My other feature was yesterday, of my recent Peony, and this time on Just Watercolors:

I am really thrilled every time I get a feature. It is really support from other artists, quite a bit like on our blogs.

Peony pictures

Saturday morning, I went to the ornamental gardens at the Ottawa Experimental Farm to take pictures of their gorgeous peonies. Unfortunately, it was pouring rain and, since my husband was patiently ( ?) waiting in the car for me, I rushed with my camera from peony bush to peony bush. In about 10 minutes, I took about 140 pictures - as you can imagine, the resulting photographs will not win any prize for composition and lighting, but they will provide me with inspiration for the months to come.

Here are a few of these pictures. If some of you,  my blogging friend,s want to use them as reference for your own painting, please don't hesitate!

Peony 2 - finished

I declare this second peony finished and will sign it tonight. I did increase the contrast here and there near the whites to enhance the whites and make the picture pop a bit more. Unfortunately,  this painting did not turn out as nice as it was in my mind. Perhaps I rushed too much after the half-way point.

I think that in the next one I will use fewer colors; I will try simply different values of blue for the petals and a hint of yellow for the center. It should create a more cohesive look.

I have gone through all my pictures of peonies, but can't find one with nicer buds that in the ref picture I used here. I may just add one of these buds to my next peony painting:-)

I hope that you are all having a great week.


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