Dahlia WIP Part 3, ARTALEE feature...and Red Bubble update anyone?

I worked on the dahlia this afternoon. I like it, but would now change a few things if I redid it: I think that I would leave a lot more white on the light petals...I find that they end up looking gray with that yellow, pink and blue. I should perhaps have just put in a touch of blue...It would have been a lot simpler. What do you think?

I may also go back to experimenting with the Fabriano soft press paper: I do a lot of lifting with these florals ( with Q tips mostly while the paint is still wet) and I seem to remember that lifting was much easier on that soft press. When I played with this paper last year, I had noted that it would probably be a good choice for florals. It is also much cheaper than Arches in my area. So...I am putting this paper on my list for my next shopping expedition at my art supplies store.

I finally took the time today to add a new feature on ARTALEE: the wonderful poured watercolors of Leslie Redhead. Please have a look at her beautiful work.

And, yes, my lucky streak is still going strong apparently with Red Bubble, since I received a feature today for one of my doors, Venetian Doorway  in the group Windows and Doors; this painting had been submitted to that group more than a year ago and they have now discovered it:-) Thank you again, Red Bubble!

Have a great evening and I hope that you will all have time to paint or look at some great art tomorrow!

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!

Clematis Update- WIP Part 3

I have worked some more on my Clematis. This picture was taken inside, but have adjusted the picture at least on my monitor.
About 2/3 of the colorful petals are done - the rest will be mostly mauves and purples with highlights. I will put some dark green in the upper right background. Opera would be the best color for some of the pinks, but I don't trust it since it is such a fugitive color.
 
Somehow, I feel very tentative about this painting...What do you think of it so far?

New work started - Clematis WIP Part 1

I have started a new watercolor floral: a clematis. My reference photo is from WetCanvas, but I have cropped it and intend to modify the colors significantly.  It will be fairly small, 11" X 14" on Arches 140 lb CP paper.

I have started with the heart of the flower and not the background as I usually do: I was really scared of those filaments criss-crossing and did not want to waste my time painting the entire painting first to find out that the center was a failure. At this point, the heart of the flower is almost done - will come back later to fine tune everything - I think that it is ok enough for me to continue with the painting. I hope that you agree.

The darks spots that you see are areas masked to preserve some highlights.

Have  a great week-end. We are having our first real  snow storm of the  year - it is very pretty, but the roads look very slippery.