Sunflower

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another gift, this time for Paige. It's her birthday.

i decided to to a sunflower for her because she loves them. Hopefully this will look nice in her kitchen.

So, here's the play by play:

Started out with a sketch


My first move was to paint the petals and the centre with a wash of Lemon Yellow
then i went in with a few darker yellows and added some shadows to give the petals shape.

i added layers of yellow ochre and mixed with browns into the centre then i added a bit of backround trying out the wet-in-wet techniques. not too shabby.
i kinda liked i like this, with the white in the back, but it seemed unfinished...


and then i added the dark background and the flower seemed to POP


the last step was to do an ink outline. et Voila! c'est fini!!
Happy Birthday Paige!!

"sunflower" watercolour and ink 5" x 7"
a gift for Paige.

Faery Bride

i've been working on this one for 2 nights now... i'm thinking the problem with Laura and watercolour is the lack of patience. I have a really hard time letting things dry. i just want to get the next layer of paint in. Again, i think i could do a little more work in my backgrounds.

i could probably done/do some more to this painting to make it better, but i was afraid i would wreck is...as i was just getting more frustrated.

I really love the way the Faery turned out though. the dress, the bouquet, i'm happy - except for that left eye that i just couldn't fix.

This is actually very VERY similar to my wedding dress, i didn't really realize it until i had drawn the faery. and the picture i used as a reference is one that B-rad took of me on our honeymoon... so i called it 'waiting bride'.

I only hope i'll look back at this one someday and discover i've come a long way.

Hawaiian Hibiscus

My friend Kate took the photo, i did the paint...
i'm trying to brush up on my watercolour skillz of an artist... this is the first painting done with the new paints i bought on the weekend. I'm a little rusty, obviously.