Painting From The Garden
Foxgloves growing in my garden are just too tempting to walk past!
It's really a wonderful time of year and I love that artist friends are eagerly sharing what they are painting from life at the moment. It seems a foxglove craze has hit the watercolour scene since I started a few washes of them a while back. Apparently I am also responsible for a poppy riot but I really am so excited if everyone is racing for their brushes from a few simple suggestions.
I have been engrossed in writing my second book but to get to my art studio I have to walk past heavenly foxgloves daily. I was really busy working but pink shades on my palette kept catching my attention. They looked so beautiful and were crying out. to be used. I couldn't resist the temptation so raced outside with my paper and palette and quickly caught the colour and form of these tall slender flowers.
Clingfilm used for leaves.
I lay a piece of clingfilm over one corner to form veins for the leaves in this section.Those who have bought a copy of my DVD " Amazing Ways With Watercolour" will have seen me use this technique for painting primroses earlier this year.
There is nothing like sitting in a garden painting flowers from life.All the photographs in the world cannot give you the sense of freedom and beauty from sitting in natural light to paint. I have a huge field of gorgeous white daisies swaying in the breeze behind me, tall elegant lupins are in bloom near my window, dog roses are in the hedgerow, honeysuckle is waving its' first blossoms at my brushes and oh, the roses are already calling my name to paint them.
It's going to be a glorious summer for painting flowers!
To those coming on my Summer Flower Workshop this week be prepared to have a lot of fun as it's going to be a very wonderful day!
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Jean, your views from your garden sound like heaven. Unfortunately, if I step outside my door up in Scotland with the heaviest paper imagined - it blows away! How lucky you are to live where you are. :)
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