Spring Fever 2011: Primroses in Watercolour

The First Signs of Spring 2011

 The first primroses of 2011

 On my retrun from Asia I was taken aback to see the first primroses in bloom in my garden. I look forward each year to painting Spring flowers as they always bring an exciting burst of colour and life into the countryside after months of wintery bleak scenes.

Yesterday I had a meeting with a gallery in the morning and set off walking to my car trying  so hard to avoid looking at the primroses that my heart was literally screaming to paint. I had important appointments which  prevented me from racing to my brushes. However I could see the painting of them  in mind all the time that I was away from my studio.

Matching colour  with the real subject.

But my return home after the meeting saw me playing with colour to capture the milky  pale yellow hues of these early spring flowers. Last year I had so much pleasure painting clusters of primroses using cling film  to create the intricate veins on the leaves surrounding the blooms. It was so successful as a technique that I repeated the process in my first 2011 primrose painting.

 Primroses  cluster  evolving with cling film  in two sections to form leaf patterns and extra interest.

Strengthening the colour  to define  individual flowers

The paper is still wet in this photograph

Removing the cling film when the paper is dry. Unusual patterns have formed which act as a base for  the leaves in further stages.

Close up of  pattern created by use of cling film.

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This is such a magical time to be an artist as colour and light changes significantly  on a daily basis. But each season is short so it is essential to capture every subject for the time it is on show for us from nature.

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Watercolour With Life Spring 2011 Workshops and Demonstrations

We will be looking at techniques to bring a number of  subjects to life with unusual and exciting results that are totally unique.  I look forward to meeting everyone this year and wish this to be the best year ever for the most magical of paintings!

February 2011  will see me in Norwich and Hampshire, U.K.