strawberry demo

Here is the demo I just finished for my friends on the Painting Friends Forum. We are having a little get-together in August in Florida and we are all really looking forward to the adventure. I'm going to do a crystal demo while there, and this little demo was so some of the ladies could practice on strawberries. I haven't posted the demo we're doing in Florida yet...but just let them in on the secret that there would be strawberries involved.

Spring distractions

Spring is here in East Texas, and what a major distraction from my painting. Thought I'd show you my first peony poppies and amarylsis. I have both red poppies and the regular single lavender poppies (that look like opium poppies..hummmm). Also blooming right now, perennial amarlysis (the old red ones that you have to find at somebody's house and talk them into giving you a start), purple/gold/pink/blue iris, purple verbena, larkspur, gorgeous roses...goodness...there no place much prettier than Texas in the spring if you're an avid gardener. Hopefully, I'll get back to painting next week.

GoldWIP

Second installment of this study trying to get some golds I like. The reflections seem to be the trick with what is bothering me...possibly the contrasts with nothing explaining the reflections, so I laid in (or started on them) a few of the flowers and leaves. Still am not happy with what is going on, but will have to table painting until Monday. My daughter and granddaughter and a friend with her little girl are coming for the weekend...looks like Grammy will be playing with the little ones outside as our weather has been glorious. Both kids are city kids and they love to come to the country. Wish my mother hen who is setting on 8 brown eggs would hatch some peeps while they were here...that would bne too much fun!

GoldWIP

Seems as though it's been forever since I've posted anything...that's because I can't seem to settle in on anything I've painted lately that I liked. Guess it happens to all of us. This is a WIP trying to work out a problem...how do I paint gold and have it look like a gold wine bottle...with bouganvilla flowers as a strong reflection? A friend knows I love to paint reflective objects, and brought this gorgeous bottle (it's the champagne size too)from a recent London trip. I have a basket of bouganvilla with hot pink, coral pink, and gold flowers in the same basket so I set the bottle among the petals and got these wonderful colors reflecting into the gold bottle.

The challenge comes next: When I started drawing off the painting I wanted to do today (this is not the one I'll paint as it'll be half sheet) I realized that I needed to know whether or not I could come up with a gold that worked before I put all the time and effort into a very detailed drawing. The secret for me to successfully paint glass or crystal or reflections is to have a really good drawing down...you can always erase stuff if it's too much detail. At this point, I'm going to have to redraw this posted bottle section and start over...this particular combo of paint doesn't work for me. So, stay tuned...nothing tried is a waste when it comes to watercolor...it's just a learning curve that we all must navigate. Sure wish I had a magic brush...