Sunday 16 March 2014

Forsythia in Watercolour : Spring 2014

 Forsythia  Study  Collection

 Its' Spring.   We have wonderful sunshine and  gorgeous flowers are appearing in our cottage garden. Near my studio are two wonderful Forsythia. My eyes have kept wandering to their glorious display of colour this week.  They are irresistable!  I always give myself a treat at the end of each working session, to paint something new  whilst exploring the creative possibilities of differing approaches.

So now, I am now enjoying painting wonderful yellow flowers. Falling on my Asian training with my rigger for the brushwork forming branches and using my number ten brush for the yellow petals.

These pieces have a delightful sense of warmth, sunshine, and peace about them and they have certainly lifted my spirits as each has evolved during my experimental creative process.

I think my favourite is this piece.

 Favourite Forsythia Study

 I enjoyed discovering the right yellow to depict these flowers and  matching my shade accurately for the branches as seen in the study below.

Matching colour to my subject.


Each flower has such a short season of life, as artists we need to paint what we see and when we see it. Never missing the golden opporunity to create from life. And how golden this opportunity is!

2 comments:

laura said...

Beautiful, Jean. My forsythias aren't in bloom yet--and I can't wait: you're so right, your eye cannot help going to them.
When mine do bloom, I'm going to try painting them as you do, with a larger wash, rather than painting each flower singly.
And you did get exactly the right yellow!

Unknown said...

Hi Jean! They are beautiful! Can you identify which colours you might have used for your favourite forsythia study? I am guessing Aureolin and New Gamboge and Burnt Sienna? Perhaps also Raw Sienna?
Much appreciated!