YES, WE HAVE NO BANANAS?

 There is something interesting about bananas growing and the large pods that hang down while the recognizable bananas are small and in bunches here and there.  A photo reference taken in a Florida garden last year.  Almost finished.  

I find myself painting more slowly than normal - and it is making me a better painter because I am taking the time to see better.  But the true color of this large pod stumped me so I just added cool and warms here and there to mimic the colors.  No one would know unless I told them.  

Need to finish this one - and finish the cactus (which just has one small part to finish).  

SLOWLY MOVING TOWARDS COMPLETION

 

Not sure why we often get into painter’s slumps - and find no inspiration anywhere, in spite of many things blooming and growing and greening up around us.  But it happens.  I imagine it has a lot to do with the world’s problems and so much hate and anger seeping in to our souls.  

I am almost finished with this one and am liking it so far - one more red flower to paint and it will be done.

Hope you are all doing well and can find places of respite and calm in your days to soothe your souls.  I’m finding it hard right now but this will pass.  A good soaking rain will help (and we are getting that).  

SOMETHING ELSE

 

Started a painting (half sheet Arches 140# cold press) of a cactus from a photo Sweetie took on a trip to a Florida garden a few year’s ago.  

Painting slowly in between doing other things.  

A DIFFERENT VERSION OF THE COLEUS

 

BIG RED AND GREENISH BROWN COLEUS

 Plant (coleus?) from photo taken at the Krohn Conservatory (there were at least 6-7 types of coleus there).  Interesting shapes but I did the bg AFTER I painted the plant - not a good plan!

This has some predrawing on it and is on Stonehenge Aqua hot press paper.  

After an art friend (Susan Roper) asked what my thinking was on this (she doesn’t know I often just throw paint on paper without thinking?!!), I went back and added some value changes to make this one more interesing, I think.  Thanks, Susan!!  (I did try to add your blog to my sidebar again but blogger is being finicky and will not allow me to remove or add anything right now - maybe later when it’s over it’s snit.  

Anyway, here is the revised version of this one.  Darkened and shaped the leaves more in every one, lifting some of the lighter colors.

LITTLE HERON

 Finished.  Did add some watercolor pencil marks on top of the watercolor to give it more feathers.

I’m thinking this little lady may be a tri-colored heron.  Need to look that up to be sure but it’s grey and a grey-red and that bright blue bill = 3 colors, right?

Looked it up and the only one with the blue bill with dark tip is the Little Blue Heron (which starts its life as completely white).  

LITTLE GREEN HERON?

 

Started the background before I touched the heron.  I may need to push back some of the stuff in the bg after the bird is painted - we’ll see.  Everything you change means changing something else!

ADDED SOME GREENERY

All I did was add a hint of greenery at the bottom - and look at the change in the color.  My camera must not really capture the true color at times.  This is pretty accurate so the previous one was a bit off.  I think it’s the blue-green color in the bg that changes the pinks.  Oh, well.  Close enough and this is it.  

On to the next wading bird.

ROSEATE SPOONBILL

 

Darkened some bits and got in some shadow shapes.  And painted the background.  May add some greenery here and there.  We’ll see.  

NOT AN AMARYLLIS

 

Started a half sheet (Arches 140# cold press) painting of a colorful roseate spoonbill from our Florida trip.  It’s a big bird and they were all strutting and building nests for the babies to come at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm.  Of course, most people say, “Look, a flamingo” because they think any bird this pink must be a flamingo.  But these beauties are an acquired taste (I mean, the face is not exactly pretty! ha ha).  

Next step to come.  I want to keep the bright but get the idea of the sun-touched vs shadowed feathers.  We’ll see if I can accomplish it.

I haven’t painted this large in a while as I’ve been kind of stuck in the fourth sheet size paintings.  Time to go bigger!

DEFINITELY THE LAST ONE - FOR NOW

 

This was just too pale and wishy-washy so…fiddled with it, wiped it down, put paint on, wiped it down again, added different colors = a sure sign that the artist doesn’t have a clue what she is doing or what she wants!!  

So definitely the last one of the amaryllis for a while.

On to pretty birds…

LAST ONE?

 I may do another but this may be the last amaryllis painting for a while.

I did each painting on different paper - hot press, cold press, rough, Arches, Stonehenge Aqua, Hahnemuehl.  It was interesting to see the different versions and how the paper worked with the watercolor.

AMARYLLIS IN A POT

 

Part of the look of this that captured my imagination was the shadow shapes behind the potted plant.  Sometimes it’s just an extra design element that makes you want to paint it.