Playing in GIMP

I was playing in GIMP today and came up with these digitally enhanced images, in this case a photo I took of cherry blossoms a few years ago. Same image, different enhancements. GIMP (link) is a free photo editor available online and has far more features than Irfanview (link) which is also free. GIMP is much more complicated so occasionally I open it and just play. There are many tutorials online but my eyes tend to glaze over when I try to read the instructions. I'm a visual learner and wish there were video instructions out there instead. Maybe there is! Come to think of it, I've never checked!

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.