Finally ... a Moment to Post ...

Continuing with the hydrangea, here I have finished the petals, and done light w/w washes on the stems. Throughout the painting, I am using cobalt and indanthrone blue, quin. burnt orange and quin. violet. It seems to be my favorite color combination. I forgot to mention last time, I am using a different paper - Arches 300 lb. CP. It's quite nice. The washes are not quite as wet and wild, and it takes more force and deliberation when painting.

I did two separate variegated washes of a greyed violet mixture. I did not do one darker wash, all at once, as I was not sure what it would look like. After they dried, I wet again where I decided to place the branches, and drizzled in thin lines of dark violet grey with a fine brush.

Here it is finished.
"Beauty even in Winter"
10.25 x 10.25 inches on 300 lb. Arches cold press rag
$160.00 Cdn.

I have reached this point with my niece. It's good, but it's NOT Paulina. So I will be doing this again in the future.

I also had some time to figure out what to do with this hollyhock. The middle flower was not right. I added more of the violet in the left center area, and now it looks like a proper inverted, not everted, blossom.
White Hollyhocks
11.5 x 7.25 inches on Arches 140 lb. CP
$155.00 unframed

It's been a busy week. Since Tuesday, I have been taking care of a neighbor's menagerie [3 dogs, 2 cats and 2 horses] while she and her husband are at Spruce Meadows in Calgary. Spruce is a huge horse facility outside of Calgary, and annually hosts a large series of show-jumping events. It is an international qualifier - horses and riders from all over the world. I heard that Germany won the team event this year.
The extra animals are pretty good. But one of the horses is a yearling, and as cheeky as all get-out! I think he looks for trouble. He's taken down one area of fencing three times. It's no wonder that he is a bit banged and scraped.
And I had to take one of the chinchillas to the vet on Friday after work. He was not moving around much, though otherwise looked well. Then I noticed him limping. He is the more active of the two, and he must have banged his leg, or strained it somehow. Thankfully it was not broken, and he is gradually moving more again.
Here's hoping the coming week is a bit less busy, and I find more time to paint.

Thank you for dropping by, and your comments are always welcome.