Monday 23 January 2017

Primroses in Watercolour 2017

"Tumbling Clusters"
Primroses in Watercolour 2017 
( Copyright Jean Haines )


Its' Spring and my heart is singing with the colours of the season. Primroses are flowering early in my cottage garden so I have managed to pick a few and paint them but in the warmth of my studio rather than outside in the cold.

Every year I paint primroses but this year there is an added excitement about my aiming to capture them in watercolour. I have time to paint on my own, discovering what I can achieve if I give myself the rare luxury of creating minus distractions of constantly teaching, travelling or giving presentations. Although I will be on tour in USA as from next week.

I decided this was my year. My time to paint alone and work, aiming to improve my own techniques so that I have more to offer when I am teaching and that luxury of  time for me has been worth it. Which is wonderful considering it is only January, the first month of the year.

I have so much to look forward to. So much to work on and so much to share as the months ahead pass.

This new painting of primroses,seen above, sings to my soul. It is exactly what I was aiming for. Before I leave my studio tonight I will be creating two large washes of floral scenes yet to be created and I cannot wait for the morning to see how they  have dried.

Giving ourselves new challenges, new subjects and new colours to try especially at the beginning of a new year is worth it because then we can work towards reaching our goals. By the end of this year I want to look back and see how far I have come. 

What about you? 

Artists Tips

1) Set yourself a goal of painting something you have painted before but try to better how you last painted it.

2) Give yourself the luxury of time to paint without distraction at least once a week.

3) Treat yourself to one new colour a month.

Happy painting!


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2 comments:

Unknown said...

Great artwork! And great advice / tips!

Cindy said...

I just discovered "Paint Yourself Calm"! I was in an art supply store and the sales clerk said she was reading your book. I told her I've wanted to learn but never made it past prepping the paper. I hope this book helps!!! Thank you! Hope you enjoy the workshops in the US? Wish I could take one but it would involve a plane trip.