Red Rugosa Rose-hips with long Sepals

This is week #2 of my online class with the theme Autumn.
I love this weeks assignment. As soon as I saw the big red hips with the long skirt-like sepals I knew this was the picture I wanted to paint.


I did some color swatching. I also tested my inks for bleeding:


Then I drew in ink for 30 min.  This is how far I got. It was fun using the ink.
I used my TWSBI 540 pen and my free Noodlers pen. The ink is Noodler's The Heart of Darkness.


I worked on my center of interest first. I tend to paint the thing that catches my eye. Those rose hips really caught my eye. I have learned that if I am interested the painting will be interesting. If I am bored the painting will be boring to look at.  So that is why I will paint the thing that gets the juices flowing. I just love the long sepals on these hips too.


I wanted to get that glow that I saw in the photo and my watercolor paints didn't have that for me. So I took out my little glass yogurt jars that I got in France and put some ink, since this was an ink project after all, and diluted it with some water. I had one little jar that I let it be watery mud.


I continued to work from the center out. I did more ink work in black and then added some white ink. I would work a while and then set this painting on my mantel for the evening. Then I would just look over to it now and then. It is helpful to me to do this because I can see what my marching orders are for the next day when I will paint. I have to back up and view my work from a distance to really see what it needs.


So in the end I took the painting outside and took her photo. I tried different places in the yard, sometimes with the painting laying flat on the lawn, and sometimes sitting up on a table. It's strange how the colors change depending on the lighting of the yard. I can see it when I upload the photos.


I painted a black ink border around the painting too.
This was a fun assignment. I really enjoyed it.

Painting Autumn Leaves

I decided to use a photo that I had taken of leaves from my tree. I took this years ago.  These are maple leaves of green, red and yellow.


In the first 30 min. I sketched out the leaves and started to paint.


Here is my painting set up:


I didn't want to paint the main leaf as red as the photo since we were working on Gold. Yet I wanted to keep the contrasts of the 3 leaves.  I have to say, the camera doesn't pick up the lights and darks of the red colors. In person one can see more values in the colors.
I spent the afternoon painting. I was enjoying getting back into painting again. It was so peaceful and relaxing.


The actual painting size is 6.75" X 5" on cold press watercolor paper.
This photo came out much brighter (neon) than the paint is in real life.



Then I took a black and white photo of my painting to see the values.

This is the time to PAINT

What am I working on?  Well I am painting on a large oil painting.  A few years back I painted a watercolor of a lady dancing which I really loved. I don't have this painting right now. It was given to a friend in Mexico.  I wish I had the original but I do have a photo of it. I love the bright colors.



So from this photo I decided to paint this again but larger and in oils.  Oil on canvas 36" X 36"

CLOSE UP

ON THE EASEL


I'm also painting an abstract.  This is fun to paint. I can paint for an hour and then leave the work for a month and still be able to come back to it. The size is 14" X 10.5" This is in progress......


Above the whole painting, below a close up of the picky work I love to do.


Speaking of picky work. Below is a drawing in pencil and ink that I have been working on for a couple years. I love doing the small detail drawing. I'm the same with my knitting, cross stitch and even as a dental technician. I like picky work. 

This drawing is 14" X 11"

So that is what I am currently working on.
Today I begin some new watercolor painting. I will share this soon.
Happy Painting!!!