Dahlia WIP part 2 and more Red Bubble news

I worked a bit more on my Dahlia. Here is part 2 of this WIP:

The heart of the flower will have some reds and rusty-gold. The other petals should be mostly white, but how can one resist adding color:-)

I was hoping to make a lot more progress on this painting yesterday and today, but somehow time just flies and there is always something to do: today, it was grocery shopping, getting new passport pictures, cooking, cleaning. How did I manage before I retired in December??? How do you balance your painting and your other responsibilities?

 You may be getting tired of hearing about Red Bubble, but I really want to post this little bit of news: my  Cherries and Lace below won the Still Life Challenge in the Fine Arts group - it had to be a still life with some red.  Please have a look at the other entries - some are simply fabulous, so I was quite surprised to read that my painting had placed first. No big prize, just "fame and glory" they said:-)

Cherries and Lace

Have a nice evening!

New WIP and another double feature on Red Bubble

Happy Valentine's Days everyone! I am celebrating by doing something for myself- I have spent the morning painting:-)
I finally seem to be getting out of my "procrastination" phase and putting brush to paper again with the aim of producing a painting and not just to playing. Here is the first stage of my new WIP: a dahlia that I photographed in Maine in late September last year. It's not the best reference, that at least it's my own and reminds me of a nice relaxing week near the ocean. At this point, I have put in a dark background and have painted the leaves; the leaves have a prominent role in this painting and this gives me the practice that I certainly need with painting leaves or anything green:-) I have also put in the local color of a few petals. This should be a fairly quick painting; it's small at about 8' X 11" to fit a 11" X 14" frame if it turns out ok.  I won't be trying to create  a "Wow" painting- I just want to have fun painting and getting back into a routine.

My Venetian painting are getting a lot of attention on Red Bubble these days. I have received another double feature for my Venetian Guardian! In the Painters Universe group and in the 100-500 views group.

Happy Valentine's Day!