All Glory Fades?

I try to paint each stage of the florals life. This includes the eventual wilting, falling off the stem and ending up in my kitchen sink. The shapes become more complex and the colors change. I posed the question in the title because of our societies obsession with youth and beauty. I try to find beauty in all stages of aging because I was raised that way. That translates into my approach to painting florals. Lately I've been frustrated with the quality of flowers that are available for purchase. This year more flowers will be added to my garden.

This is an Agave that grew in my old hood prior to the February freeze last year.

Leaves Are Pretty Too

I really enjoyed drawing and then making this painting. I was in Pam's garden it was in the afternoon and the light was sweet. I first laid in the ink sketch with a Pitt artist pen and used my Daniel Smith watercolors that I had preloaded on a palette before leaving Austin. As to the paper, it was Canson watercolor. 9 by 12 inches

A image from my Stillman and Birn sketchbook. I went down to this area in my hood on a recent Sunday to get this sketch for a larger painting. It's part of the nice drainage system they have here where I live. I noticed it during our recent rains in May.

Luck Ladies

I have been overwhelmed by living lately so the blog went quite. I have been painting a lot and I have much to share. I just get home from work and do not want to touch this computer. I work with computers a lot at work that may be my issue. I have been taking classes on Craftsy lately. Its fun and it makes me pay attention. I need a voice teaching me something to keep me in my chair. Otherwise I am easily distracted.

Inside The Floral

Another small painting of one of the flowers on my counter. I soaked my paper with water and let the color just mingle. I worked on multiple pieces because I was experimenting with how the paint would flow at various stages of wetness. I also chose to work on small 3 by 5 pieces of paper.

I went to Green Mesquite Barbecue last weekend for some sin food. While waiting for my order, I sketched this guy sitting at the counter waiting for food. I liked the blue scarf on his head and the black ring in his ear. I used St-Armand watercolor paper.

Low Heat Flowers 2

On August 2, 2014 we had a rare cold front come through. These flowers only bloom in the morning when the temps are right. I got my gear and painted them. It was pleasant to be able to do some plein air work in my own yard. I was able to paint three different versions; this is the second painting.

Vibrant Energy

Last weekend I bought these flowers and set them up on my kitchen counter. I have painted about 7 pieces so far. This one is on an 8 by 8 piece of Masa paper that had been gessoed. It makes for interesting textures and works well with watercolor. After all watercolor tends to do its on thing anyway.

I took this photo while exploring the Charleston, South Carolina Aquarium. I used my new Nikon D800 with an 50 MM lens. This is the inspiration for the next few paintings.

A Flower

This little study was inspired by the photo posted below that I took in 2008. We were visiting the Fort Bragg Botanical Gardens. On the edge is the beautiful coastline and inside are amazing flowers.

Blue Vase Red Flowers

I have a habit of taking a photo of the flowers that my office mates get from their spouses. Sigmond who is married to Kim sent these flowers to her. I always photographed the flowers that he sent her until she was transferred to another division in the office. He has a good eye and loves his wife. I have painted from this photo many times. The first paintings were in acrylic.

Smile Makers

I was sick for a few days and we had snow days added on. During that time I cleaned and cleared out a lot of clutter including my photos. (My doctor had me on steroids for lung issues) Well during my purge I found this photo of a friends flowers from her husband. It makes me smile enjoy.

Pam's Garden 2

Painted earlier this year in Pam's garden.

Pam's Garden

From Pam's flower portion of her garden. She has great organic veggies too.

Flower Interior II

I'm enjoying the florals these days. I started this one last Friday night and finished it up at the gallery that Saturday. Its from the Fort Bragg, California botanical garden. I hope to be there painting next month.

Yardwork 3

This is the second painting of the purple flowers in Pam's garden. I used less pigment in this version and tried not to overwork the purple. It was nice and breezy in the shade so I only completed two of this flower before I went into the sun to warm up. Love that Northern California weather.

White Party (in progress)

This is one of my tighter floral paintings. I like painting the white flower because you are forced to look beyond white to convey it. I took the photo that inspires this work at the Fort Bragg Botanical Garden. Right now I think I have too many hard edges so the goal will be to balance them out a bit.

Yardwork 1

These are flowers from Pam's yard. I did quite a few flower studies while sitting in her backyard enjoying the weather. I sat out so much that I got tanned a bit. Yes it is true I tan. I didn't want to overwork this one so I stopped when Pam said step away.

Orange and Red (in progress)

I posted this one on the Artist Daily blog and a fellow artist suggested that I smooth out some of the edges. This is the 10th layer so far. Let me know if you have any further thoughts and I will post the finished version. I think the background should be a bit darker too.

Red Floral in progress.

I'm back to painting florals. These usually take me a long time to complete because they require multiple layers to get to a good finish. I tend to work on three at a time. I paint a layer let it dry and then I do another. It always pays to look at them on my computer monitor because the mistakes are easier to spot. The florals are inspired by a number of shots taken at various botanical gardens that I visit throughout the year.