All Done and Some Lessons Learned

Here's my finished piece after many hours of tedious but enjoyable work.  I've learned a couple of lessons, which are:

This is very tedious work that requires intense concentration as every stroke must be as perfect as I can make it - so, don't work too long at a time, or at all if I feel tired or just "off."

Consider leaving some of the flowers and/or leaves less finished than others.

Be really careful about keeping the paper clean.  Keep a paper towel between the paper and my restin hand, and keep the paint palette on the same side of the piece as the water container to avoid unintended drips.

Remember that line work will blur when a wash goes over it, so plan the sequence of line work carefully.

And Yet Again

I'm finished with most of the flowers now.  It's fun adding the final detail of the veins in the petals and the white stripes at the base of the petal.  I'm outlining each petal with a thin line.  I'm on the home stretch now.

And Again

Just adding more washes, trying to enrich the color and create form through lights and darks.  I'm having trouble keeping the white of the paper clearn.  I use a paper towel under my right hand, which often rests on the paper, but I sometimes forget and then get into trouble.  I think the little spots at the top left may have been caused by my cat, Darcy!

The Next Layer of Washes

By the way, this is a scan as opposed to the picture in the last posting which was a photo.  The scan is much better.

Anyway, I have now finished the second set of washes as well as painting the veins in the leaves.  For the flowers, I'm using Carbazole Violet and Cobalt Blue Violet on the bluer flowers and Quinacridone Violet and Napthol Maroon on the redder flowers.  I had Rose of Ultramarine on the my pallette but wasn't using it.  I wish I hadn't overlooked it because it's a very pretty color.

I find this technique to be tedious but also to require absolute attention as too much or too little water on the brush creates a problem that can't be fixed.

A New Challenge

I'm so inspired by all the beautiful flowers, both wild and domestic, in my yard and garden that I thought I'd have a try at botanical art.

This is the first step (except for the drawing which came before) of my first piece, silver dollars in bloom.  This is a wild flower that has beautiful flat translucent seed pods that are often used in flower arrangements.  The flowers are a gorgeous blend of blue/violet and red/violet, with the newer blossoms leaning towards the blue and then turning more towards the red as they age.

I'm working with watercolor which is a medium I seldom use, but it's traditional for this type of art, so I'm going to try to learn how to use it well - a long-term endeavor, I'm sure!

The beginning is pale washes, and as I proceed I will build up the color.

The Secret Life of Hens

This is the finished piece.  The lantern lights as I've installed a tiny led light.  The light switch is on the back of the base.  I've entered it in Fire Mountain Gem's current competition which is polymer or air-dry clay.

The white chicken has a great hand.  The fox has a terrible hand but he's upping the ante anyway!