Cherry Blossom Time~Complete ?

I wanted to keep the background fairly simple but wasn't sure how dark I wanted to go so I compromised by doing a little half and half. I used DS perylene green and Vivid green. I'm wondering if I should bring a little of the green into the flowers, possibly on the sepals to make them mesh better with the overall painting.

It's Cherry Blossom Time~WIP

...for my weeping cherry tree. It's been in bloom for over a week now and is still loaded with blossoms despite some recent windy weather. The blossoms make me think of those old time swing skirts with crinoline petticoats underneath. When the pendulous flowers sway in the breeze they look as if they are ladies dancing.

I decided to skip the sketch, go right for the paint & brushes and hope for the best. I'm using only DV cobalt blue deep, DV perm. rose and D/R Vivid green. Vivid green contains so much yellow I might as well be working with three primaries and they all combine to create enough variations in color for this project. I really do love working with a limited palette.

Pink Lady Slippers~experiment continues

Closeup 1

Closeup 2

I've been playing around with this painting, trying to see what effects would make this pop more. I toned down the red-violet in the background with some DS Iridescent blue, then added metallic gold ink. I used an oil based gold Zig Painty pen to outline areas of the flowers, leaves and stems, then applied some metallic gold ink from a stamp pad by tapping it through nylon window screening with an old brush trimmed flat to use as a stencil brush. I think it looks kinda cool!

Pink Lady Slippers~WIP 2

Cropped

I'm still considering this a work in progress even though it looks completed albeit kinda sloppy. I want to experiment further with it to see what effects I can continue to create. I tried various mixtures of greens (both cool and warm), making different marks with the brush, working wet into wet, wet into dry, spraying, etc. I'm wondering if acrylic inks would give me more vibrant colors, possibly using a mixture of both watercolor and ink to achieve the look I'm after. I'd also love to get some metallics into picture.

Pink Lady Slippers~WIP 1

I had a drawing all set to go, then decided after seeing a dyed silk piece that inspired me to such a degree as to send me in a whole new direction. I have no idea if this will turn out well nor do I care at the moment. I loved the effect of the dyed silk painting so much I'd like to try and create roughly the same effect with watercolor on paper. I know it's going to take some experimenting and I also know I'm going to have some failures. I'm currently working on Arches #140 CP w/c paper but I may switch over to hotpress paper if I don't like the outcome. I did do a quickie sketch to get things started but I want to keep this fairly loose and spontaneous for the first go.

Lucy & Ethel Revisited

I felt Lucy & Ethel looked a bit drab so I got to work with some magenta, Quin. gold and gouache. I created this panorama for comparison. The 'after' is on the left.

It's been ages since I've failed to update my blog for over a month so apologies to my followers and visitors. April shot by like a comet it seems and other things got in the way of painting. I did manage to ready some pieces for the gallery and get them delivered. I also took time to pull some older paintings and look them over. I thought Lucy & Ethel needed a facelift but fear I may have tweaked them to death, always a danger when revisiting a painting. At this point I'm just plain tired of looking at them so I've begun another drawing for a new piece. I hope to spend more time painting in May. I just have to get the momentum going again.