Not Black Friday ! "Red Instead "

 Rose hips painted in watercolour on a scrap of paper

It is wonderful how we change. We learn each day. We cannot be the same person or artist as we were the day before. Because every single thing that happens in our life changes us. Sometimes in a very subtle way, sometimes more obviously. I have changed as a person so much over the years but I know I am still learning how to be a better human being. I am practising this skill but I have much to perfect in it!

With my painting though I feel I am getting somewhere. The excitement of finding new treasure each day is still very much with me. As it was as a child. I lived with my Grandparents then and country walks was a regular way of life. We didn't drive anywhere. We walked. At that time in my life picking up the most beautiful golden leaf in autumn, or seeing the brightest of berries was always a thrilling adventure. How different to todays' youngsters who can sit endlessly in front of a computer screen for entertainment. As a child I had to go out and it was considered safe to do so. 

Times change!

Today is apparently Black Friday and there are sales everywhere to entice people to buy and save money. My own "Black Friday" is going to be "Red Instead" and I am going to paint and see how I have changed with a view to next years Black Friday, when I will be seeing how I have grown as a person and as an artist. We can all be better than we are in whatever we choose to do. That is my personal goal.

Today, as my treasure, I picked up three rose hip berries that were together on one stem. As seen in the above painting. They were fairly bruised, although one berry was almost perfect.   I painted them on a scrap of paper that already had colour on it from a previous wash. I chose vibrant red shades and aimed to make my berries look as solid with pigment on paper as they did in reality. But whilst I painted them I was tempted to look back at how I had painted these same subjects before. Here are a few of my past favourite rose hip paintings. And my thoughts on them.

1)  Rose hip demonstration from one of my UK workshops.

 With this painting I was encouraging an artist on my workshop to paint from life. I chose this simple subject to show them how to look, observe and paint what you see. The artist told me I had " blown them away"with my technique and study, and this is still one of my favourite teaching memories to this day. And little study painting.

2) Rose hip painting inspired by  a local hedgerow

 I saw these berries on a walk with my dog. I loved the light behind them so captured it in watercolour. It became the inspiration for one of the chapters in my first book on painting in watercolour. Stopping to enjoy looking at these berries gave me so much joy at the time but also a fabulous reward in teaching material.

 3) Rose hip painting again inspired by a walk

The above painting is also one of my favourites. An early berry painting of mine but I still love the colours in it. I hadn't discovered Daniel Smith watercolours when I painted this piece so I wonder what would happen if I tried it again with my new favourite colours!

Its' fun to revisit old work to see how you have grown as an artist. I know we can learn from our past mistakes to avoid them in the future. But we can also learn what we loved most about our past work and this walk down memory lane has inspired me to paint some large, new country scenes. Which means I will have to go out for a walk to see the real thing, study colour, leaf and berry formations and gain some new ideas!

Until I return

Happy Painting!

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