Christmas Roses in Bloom 2015

Christmas Roses coming to life in watercolour 2015

Have you noticed how the blooms of Christmas Roses grow and face so many different directions? Their flower heads hang downwards, face upwards, sideways and hide behind other flowers. I wandered around my garden this morning and noticed a clump of these flowers were blooming beautifully in my cottage garden. Some of the flowers are brilliant white, some are a pale green, Others as they wilt and pass their best look almost ochre in colour.

I couldn't resist painting them so I have literally flooded a scrap of large old paper with colour just as a warm up and then searched to find a few blooms in the first wash, making negative edges bring each individual bloom to life.

I am having a ball and I am even forgetting I am getting over the flu!

Painting is so therapeutic. It can distract you from so much that is unpleasant in life and bring you renewed energy when you are tired if you work with great brushstrokes that are full of energy and life.

I loved letting go and painting for fun this afternoon.

And I am loving reading and sharing personal messages that have been sent to me by artists who have either read my books or attended my art demonstrations or workshops.

It is a magical Christmas season so far and I hope the magic continues!

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The Difference a Minute Makes : Christmas Roses 2015

Christmas Roses with the addition of Holly Berries

I intended to leave my studio and the Christmas Rose painting to return to in the morning with fresh eyes. But it is looking so fascinating and after writing my last blog post I couldn't resist adding red holly berries to see what the result would be and here it is.

I have splattered yellow and orange around my Christmas Rose centres which instantly brings life and energy to the painting. The red berries really have added a sense of warmth and a feeling of Christmas. I need to add shadow under a few flower centres next to define some of the stamen which will make these flowers look more like the real thing. And the upper corner isn't quite working for me but this is nearly finished. I like the flowers hidden in shadow in the centre of the composition adding a sense of distance and mystery.

I have absolutely loved working on this piece and sharing the stages on my blog.

I hope you have enjoyed reading these posts as much as I have enjoyed typing them!

Here is the painting minus the red holly berries and further colour additions. Just a minute can make such a difference to a painting. And knowing when to put your brush down !

 Painting as it was, minus the red holly berries, splattering and ivy detail.

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Christmas Roses and Ivy in Watercolour 2015

 Christmas Rose Bouquet developing as a work in progress

I thought I would add to my blog on Christmas roses and end the day in my studio with a happy memory. When I paint I don't have a set destination or goal. I know for example with this painting I am working from a single Christmas rose that I picked in my garden. I am using this solitary flower and looking at it from different angles to add to a composition that is growing by the minute.

At first my painting was intended to be two full blooms and a half flower,painted from a sideways view. A connecting wash created the backdrop. And I liked it this way.

 

 Stage 1. My two main flowers and a soft background wash.

Next I began to create a more accurate outline on the lower flower. I did this by painting the outer edge of  two petals then I gradually bled this colour away with my brush into the surrounding area. This made the flower "pop" off the paper.

 Making white space "pop" by adding dark behind it for drama.

But here is the funny story that made me laugh as I was painting. When I held my workshops in USA on my recent tour I described how I paint as if I am jumping in a car with my husband and heading to a destination. My husband is the kind of man who has the map, knows where he wants to go and will get there by the quickest route. Not me! I get distracted. So if something beautiful leads me in another direction off I go. We were driving along the coast of California and knew what time we were aiming to reach our hotel that night. I saw a sign directing the way to see seals and wanted to go there instead, which incidentally we did. And it was fun and it lightened the long drive. But that's me. I love having fun in my life and in my art.

So I may have started this painting thinking it would be two and a half flowers. But something far better happened along the way as the painting developed and as I had no preliminary sketch to follow or be  restricted by I was able to take a more fun route!

I have allowed more Christmas roses to appear in the background. Now there is a whole bunch of them. I actually worked around whites in my barckground that were there by accident. Little triangles of white paper acted as petals turning over at the tips.
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More flowers appearing in the painting. In a free flowing composition.

I looked at  this painting at this stage then wandered around my garden again as my dog Bailey needed a little break. I noticed the gorgeous ivy on one cottage wall and how it was shining in the light and realised my white flowers would look lovely nestling in a bouquet with dark dramatic greens as a backdrop. And so I added a mix of greens and blues behind my flowers. I now have easy places to add leaf outlines in my next colour additions.

Dark background added which will be ivy in the next stage of my painting.

Part of me feels I could add clusters of dark ivy berries or even holly berries or leaves to make this feel like a Christmas card design. I have so many options to choose from in where I am heading next with this piece. I could even turn this into white clematis if I chose too. That is another idea!

But the whole point of my journey in my painting is that I don't know where I am heading. I have no map. I am just simply enjoying what happens as it happens and being guided by colour and shape which is pleasing to my eye.

I write about this constantly in my books  and I share my way of working on my workshops.

My main passion is that painting in watercolour is magical. I always reccomend letting it lead you rather than you lead it, and you will have a ball painting if you do.

But on another note, you can imagine I am a nightmare to be with in a car if you need to get somewhere in a rush!

Happy painting!

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Christmas Roses in Watercolour 2015

 First Wash of Christmas Roses bursting into life in watercolour

It is so good to be home and not travelling. I have adored meeting everyone on my workshop tour in USA but there comes a point when you are teaching that you begin to feel really envious of everyone in the class, as they can focus on painting whilst you are guiding and there for that sole purpose. I give my all in each workshop. My time belongs totally to everyone in the room and what happens during each session is important to me. I want each artist attending to leave feeling 100%inspired. But what happens is that I too get inspiration and I find myself  absolutely desperate to paint non stop when I return home and to my studio.Which is how I am at the moment!

Today I wandered around my garden and came across Christmas roses flowering beautifully. Their snow white heads with stunning yellow centres called to my brushes so even though I am supposed to be working on my new book this week I took time out to paint just for me. I wanted the feeling of freedom and flowing colour capturing a sense of light.

I am looking at this soft first wash and it reminds me of two white doves due to the softness of my brushstrokes here. There is a feeling of peace and calm about this painting. And how badly that feeling is needed in the world today. As artists we can switch off and escape into a world of beauty whenever we choose to. How wonderful it would be if we could do that for real so that every single person in this world sees beauty, treats it with respect and aims to teach others to make this world brighter, filled with love and kindness.

But I am straying away from my painting here!

Christmas Rose Painting Tips.

Paint a good negative outline first. I started this first wash by painting the outer edge of two flowers and a side view of another. 

Soften Edges I have softened edges in places and used a selection of blue and turquoise shades for the background. I have started adding yellow centres. 

Find a few leaf outlines  I teased a few green leaves to appear at the edge of one side of the wash. Next I will add detail of the individual petals and more greenery for depth in the central section.

Make the most of watermarks. I love the watermarks that shine here showing this is pure watercolour minus any other medium being added.

Observe the Real Subject . I often place the real flowers on my work during the creative process to get a feel of how they look compared to my painting as you can see in the image below.

 A real flower and leaf have been placed on my painting to help me decide what brushwork or detail is needed next.

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While I was walking around my garden I had a wonderful surprise. Two of the cygnets that had visited us earlier this year appeared and wanted to be fed. Of course I fed them and they stayed here for ages.  I think these must be the offspring of Sydney the swan who visits us each year. 

If you were on my workshops this year you may have seen my photos and video of them.

Here they are!

 Two cygnets almost fully grown visiting my garden today. My next subjects maybe?

 Close up of one of the cygnets

Side by side, what a wonderful sight. Photo taken in my garden this morning.

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Christmas Roses in Watercolour : Hellebore

 Hellebore flowers coming to life on my easel

It is cold outside. Far too cold to tempt me to sit outside to paint. But annoyingly a bright white flower has caught my eye and I haven't been able to ignore it. From the kitchen window of my cottage I can see this  beautiful white flower standing proudly in the flower bed outside, bravely facing the snow and drop in temperature this week.

At first I made a quick watercolour sketch of the flower in situ. And I must admit it was a very quick painting. Then I picked the flower and brought it into my studio as painting with gloves on isn't really my thing!  Once inside, in the warm I could think about how the flower grew naturally and work with the colours from my quick sketch.

My observation of the plant itself taught me that even though it would be lovely to paint a perfect bloom, this flower is far from that. Edges of some of the petals  were brown, effected by the frost. These blemishes added to the flowers beauty for me so I added them in my painting.

Frost bitten petal edges

I started two paintings using two of my favourite techniques.  The study on the left, below, is worked from a starting point and then building up the painting from there. The centre of the flower was my first place to add colour and the petals built up around this section, leading to  then adding an interesting background. The study on the right is created by painting a beautiful background surrounding  the form of the flower, created as a negative edge.

 Two techniques. Working from a starting point and working around a negative edge by painting the background first.

  Both paintings have their own beauty so far. The light on each is very important to me. As it is such a dull day I am almost having to invent where sunlight would be hitting the flower. Even typing the word " sunshine" feels good in Winter!

Negative edge painting, with colour from the background allowed to flow into  a few of the upper petals.

I have found that the more I paint, the further away  I have grown from working with photographs. When I very first started painting, having a collection of photographs that inspired me seemed so very important. Now,in a way, I see working from photographs has actually held me back at times. Only by looking at life can I really gain a true feel for my subjects. And only be seeing and observing each detail can I bring life into my results with interesting colour combinations that are missing from photographic images.

So my artist tip for the day ?

Forget all those photographs and start painting from life. It is so much more rewarding! Unless of course you are painting elephants or wildlife that doesn't sit still. But even then, see it for real if you can rather than paint from a source that isn't personally connected to you. Your artistic results will benefit and whats' more, be totally yours!

Be unique!

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