Dahlia Watercolor Progress

I've made a good amount of progress since my original post on the Dahlia watercolor. As you can see, I've finished the background at this point. I've also started basing in some of the petals. The above is the photo that I started with.

I could have approached where to start in a few different ways but in the end, I just started wherever I felt like. My next step will probably be basing in more of the petals that surround the ones that I've done.

After I've filled in some more, I will go back and darken and brighten. The colors of the petals as they are now, are just the start. A lot still has to be done to achieve the colors that I want. You never just put down one wash of color and call it quits....many more colors are added afterward to give the flower real depth. I think a nice orange/red will do the trick.

This photo shows how the picture looked after it was cropped. This kind of close-up and this particular view, is what I wanted to actually create my painting from.

New York Botanical Garden Orchid Show '07

As promised, here are the photos from the Orchid show that I went to this week. I have to say that it wasn't quite as nice as last year, not as large but still beautiful. I will say, there were many varieties this year that they didn't have last year so, that was really nice. This is the display on the water that you see when you first come in the door. Lots of Phaleanopsis Orchids in this display.

These two photos are of Miltonia - The Pansy Orchid. They are so pretty and probably among my favorites. I would like to try one of these sometime in my own collection.

One Thing they did with the display this year....lots of Orchids mounted on trees and in baskets, high up..among the foliage. These displays were really beautiful.

Fun Surfaces

This morning I received an order for a gourd birdhouse. I love painting those and well, it got me thinking why I love them and what other surfaces are very rewarding and fun for me and why..... The Pink Roses duck egg above, I painted for a gift exchange last year. I had a great time painting this one. One of the reasons that I like eggs so much is the curvy and well, sensual surface. It just feels so wonderful in the palm of my hand.

Eggs are also challenging to paint because especially with the smaller ones like the duck and turkey egg above, when you have an idea, it is sometimes hard to fit it all on the surface. I guess I also like them because I love the crafty part of it as well, making the hangers out of stones and beads, also gluing pretty stones on the egg itself, to add the finishing touches to the design. I've also always loved eggs and have a decorative egg collection in my china cabinet, which has overflowed to the glass display that makes up the bottom of my end table in my livingroom.

Every time I'm at a crafts fair, I tend to gravitate to the booths that are selling gourds. I guess I would say I love gourds for the same reason as eggs...their shape. These vessels are made by nature instead of man made so you never quite know with a gourd, what shape you are going to get. I think that is what makes them so much fun and so compelling to paint, different shaped gourds lend themselves to different designs.

Ok, then there is Yupo paper, a great alternative to traditional watercolor paper if you feel you can let loose, not be so serious and just have some fun for a change. Funny that it is called paper because there is nothing natural about the surface, it is a totally man made synthetic surface. You can do more serious paintings on Yupo, like my Red Calla Lilies above or do silly and fun paintings like my Springtime Birdie Doodle below. Either way, all the traditional rules of watercolor go out the window and you can just pretty much do anything you want. The result are paintings that have a crystal like shine to them, they are beautiful to look at on this unusual surface.

Well, Doodles, what can I say, I'm loving them. This is the name I've given to paintings I'm starting to do on Yupo paper, that are very playful and fun, nothing seious about them. I feel like a kid who has discoverd crayons for the first time when I work on one. They are a real form of therapy for me, perhaps a break from art that makes you take it and yourself way to seriously sometimes. The doodles get their image by first, completing a background I'm happy with, then removing areas of the paint, showing the white Yupo beneath, to reveal the design itself. I think the possibilities with these are endless and my mind is brimming with ideas for new doodles in all different sizes.

Yellow Calla Lily, Watercolor On Paper

I'm a big Georgia O'Keeffe fan and 2 years a ago I bought a book at Barnes & Noble in the discount section. It is a huge full color book of all her floral works, in all different mediums. I love this book, I have leafed through it so many times and now, it sits in my studio, housed there permanently, for inspiration.

A couple years ago, when I first bought this book, I found a Calla Lily painting that I really fell in love with and I decided to make a watercolor study of it for myself. I had a great time painting it and now, I get to enjoy it because I was able to matt and frame it and hang it up.

I have a friend who loves this painting and also is a big Georgia O'Keeffe fan herself. I thought I would blog a bit about this today because of her. When she told me how much she enjoys this painting, it made me take a few more glances at it every day, when I run up and down my stairs (as that is where it is hanging) and make me stop and appreciate it and also, how much fun it was to paint.

I think sometimes, as artists, we are so busy trying to sell our work that we forget to stop and enjoy it ourselves. I think learning to appreciate our own work is vitally important. So thanks Jo, you just made me stop and take notice of my own work once in awhile.