I'm FREE

I'm FREE

Monday, May 20, 2013

It's Been a Long Time, but ... PROCESS ...

This poor clematis was planted about five years ago, and never bloomed till this year. It is really making up for lost time. The blossoms are huge - probably ten inches across - and profuse. And the flower itself, as you can see, is gorgeous! It must be all that good composted horse manure. :)

This is my reference photo for a smaller painting - 6 x 8 inches.

I start with the greens - the background colors are a mix of quin. gold and phthalo green[YS]. The inner color is aureolin with a touch of pink and cobalt blue.

For the shadows, I am painting all w/w, using cobalt blue and pink. I use a grey mix [cobalt blue, aureolin and pink] for some of the darkest areas, then glaze over with the pink and blue. I am darkening the greens with phthalo green, quin. gold and alizarin crimson.

Here, I have put a mat around the painting to see how it looks. 

And here is where I am now, still playing with the pink and blue to get more depth.
A few people have asked me if I intend to varnish all my watercolors. This one will certainly be mounted on a 6 x 8 inch cradled frame and varnished. And I am just staining the frame to mount the sexy shoes. I don't think I'll varnish all the work I do, but some of the fun, smaller paintings - yes.

As always, it's great that you visited, and your comments are most welcome.

13 comments:

  1. bellissima questa clematis Kathryn....
    ciao gloria

    ReplyDelete
  2. If you can paint your clematis this realistically...who needs the plant? This is gorgeous!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I think your painting is even more lovely than the actual bloom.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Those flowers are spectacular! No wonder you wanted to paint them! Love what you've done!

    ReplyDelete
  5. The photoref is calling for a painting Kathryn. The abstract of flowers comes very real on your painting original.
    Have a great day!
    Irina

    ReplyDelete
  6. This clematis is gorgeous, it wanted to be painted this year, I think! The painting is gorgeous too!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Incredibly beautiful these Clematis, I never saw such enormous flowers before. I am convinced you finished work will be just as stunning as the real thing !

    ReplyDelete
  8. i got the chills when i saw that bloom!! it looks so incredible the way the petals are so curly and curve up, they look like they have wire in them!! stunning shot! and even more stunning is your painting...this is going to be outstanding!! just beautiful!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Super mooi gedaan lieve groetjes Danielle

    ReplyDelete
  10. This is coming along SO beautifully, Kathryn.!! We can use some of your "manure" in East Rockaway! We lost two trees and some bushes ...and my favorite ground cover because of Sandy!
    and there's too much salt in the ground yet to plant this year!
    So until then, I will enjoy looking at your flowers!!
    Wonderful work!!!

    ReplyDelete
  11. It took a long time to bloom .... and now you have beautiful flowers to paint and I'm sure that this watercolor will be gorgeous.

    ReplyDelete