Foxgloves in Watercolour: Garden Painting 2012

Foxglove growing in my cottage garden

The sun has been incredible today and the light playing on the flowers in my garden has been tempting me to work outside and enjoy the summer weather. I didn't really know where to start first as so many wonderful flowers are in bloom at the moment. But a tall foxglove has been standing proud and almost calling my name this last week.

So with a board to lean on and several pieces of paper I sat and studied its' gorgeous colour. I have opted for W&N Opera Rose as the main shade for my compositions.

 First wash working around the bell shapes of each flower on the tall foxglove stem.

It was fantastic days painting especially capturing the light in my first study which seemed to breath with life immediately in sections. 

At this stage I enjoyed leaning my first wash against an old tree stump to see how my colours sat with nature in my garden. They worked perfectly for me.

Leaning my painting in its early stage against an old log that has been surrounded by these flowers all year so far..

Next I added some darks by carefully looking at the flower in real life. I find if you continually work from photographic images your darks can tend to become far too heavy and unrealistic. Painting from life in the fresh air is far healthier for you and can give you an insight into stunning colour combinations learned from observing, which can be missed by painting inside all the time!

Foxgloves building up gradually in a painting from a session in my garden this afternoon.

I know tomorrow I will be racing out to my garden to complete the series and I have one stunning group of white foxgloves which will be truly interesting to capture in a watercolour.

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Readers of my new book "Atmospheric Watercolours"  may be reminded of my "Woodland Fantasy " foxglove painting from inside the opening pages. It is now almost two years since this  original painting was created, as it was then with my publishers until my books release in May of this year. When it was finally returned to me ,it was framed and sold in one of my recent exhibitions. It was, and always will be an all time favourite painting of mine with several galleries wishing to showcase it.

Now its time to create a new " all time favourite" foxglove painting!

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Artists Tip: Please paint outside as much as possible and from life because the colours you will see will be far more interesting and the light effects so much more interesting to paint. In time your eyes search out the patterns within pattersn too so go for gold and paint something new this week!