Nit-Picker's Delight ... or ... I Have GOT to Leave This for Tonight ...

Since the last post, I added several glazes of a very dark green/violet mixture for a dark background. I also dragged some of that dark color over the leaves in shadow. Just playing around - trying different things ...
I wet the area and dropped in pigment for the cast shadows within the petals, using an aureolin, quin. pink, indanthrone mix.

Then I started on the detail work within the main bloom, and its side-kick - the partially furled bud to the right.

This is where I'm leaving it for tonight.

And the saga of the baby sparrows continues. One fell out if the nest today. He had feathers, and seemed all right. I wasn't sure about bird protocol, so I bundled him in an old fluffy towel, and proceeded to start hand-feeding him. My landlady feeds her dogs some wet food, and I'd read that the babies do very well with that diet. So there I was, using two tiny paint brushes - one to tease his beak open, the other to dip food down his gullet. He was one hungry bird!!! I did this several times over a few hours, and then did a bit more reading about birds falling out of nests. Apparently they can safely be returned, and are accepted by the parents. So back he carefully went, tucked into the nest with his sibbies.

Thank you for dropping by. Your comments are always welcome.

Another Class Project ...

I started with an overall wash of aureolin, applied wet-in-wet.

I masked out the stamen and pistils. Then, again w/w, I dropped in quin. sienna. I also put down the first wash of the base of the petals, using aureolin, quin. sienna and phthalo green.

I stroked some alizarin crimson on the petals, and painted the stem with the yellow, orange and green mixture, adding shadows w/w with just the green and sienna.

At this point, I am trying to achieve an appearance of depth to the petals, using alizarin crimson, w/w.
Long way to go yet. This demo is more advanced, but I hope not too much so.
I'd like to put a background in, but I'm not yet sure what I want to do ... not too dark.

I thank you for dropping by. Your comments and questions are always welcome.

Rose Is Done

I took this photo yesterday, when we had about 2 minutes of almost- sunshine. The colors are much more true-to-life.

Today, I just put a w/w wash over the leaves on the lower right, as the whites seemed to distract from the rose.  Signed and finished!
The framable size is 13 x 9 inches.
$125.00
Please leave me a note if you are interested in purchasing the rose.

Thank you for dropping by! Your comments are always welcome.

It's Windy Enough to Blow Me Out of the Saddle, So I Paint

The scent of the honeysuckle and the sweet peas right now is absolutely divine. So I grabbed my camera yesterday, and got a snootful of the glorious aroma while taking a few reference photos. These are two relatively small [about 8 x 8 inches] paintings I am currently working on.

Our superb summer weather is shifting a bit, and a strong wind has come in overnight, before rain tomorrow. I'll have to see if I can muster the courage to ride Bruno today - he tends, like most horses - to get rather full of himself when the weather is like this.

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

Almost Back ...

It's been a long month. I won't go into great detail, but the flu turned into a viral pneumonia, and, as a result, I have been out of commission for almost a month. Very hard for me, as I am not a patient person.

Enough said. I want to thank you all for your well wishes. You must forgive me for not keeping up on all your posts - I haven't felt like doing much other than lie around and read, and catch up on my favorite British murder mysteries. I loved Ken Follett's "Fall of Giants", and can hardly wait to read more of his work. 

As for painting, I still find I am not that keen to do much. I've played with the swallow a bit, losing some of the backlit edges. I thank Arena Shawn for the suggestion. And I have started to put some color in the hydrangeas. As usual, I find myself wanting to start again, but really it's not a bad painting so far, so I will put it aside until I can approach it in a healthier frame of mind.

Bruno has been sadly neglected, though I am sure he doesn't mind too much, as long as he is fed. I may try to lunge him today. But I must be firm, as horses tend to become a bit spoiled and unwilling to listen after a long time off. 

Thank you for dropping by.

Oh, How I Wish I Could Ride Today ...

The pond is still frozen, and so is the ground. So no riding yet ... RATS!!!

I started to intensify the rose colors, but needed some background color to judge how much more.

This is background done. Now I can get back and really brighten the rose.

I started putting in the feathers, in a sort of scrumbly manner to suggest  the irregularity of a young bird's feathers.

More feathers, and a branch for him as a perch.

I am still playing with the feathers. I think it needs more darkening in the core area to give more of an impression of his being backlit.

I thank you all so much for your well wishes. I am slowly getting better. I am still pretty weak, and coughing, but improving. I went to work for half a day on Friday, and it was so good to get out of the house! I am dying to get back in the saddle, but I really am too weak, so I suppose it's a good thing the ground is frozen, or I'd probably try to ride anyway. I will at least take Bruno's blankets off, and see if there is still a horse under there, and then maybe groom him a bit.

Thank you again for visiting and writing!