Chris' Birthday Card

 

Since this card has been delivered I thought I would post it now. Click on the image to enlarge. I have had a fun time making a total of 4 of these cards, each one is different from the others.

Spiritual Bouquet Card

 

I was asked to design a Spiritual Bouquet Card. I chose to do an accordion fold card with 6 panels. This photo shows the inside without text. I left the upper left and most of the 6th, last panel, for text. The back is blank and will have the list of Masses, Rosaries, Devotions, etc. that the group members will be giving to the recipient. The outside dimensions (including the covers) are 5.5 x 30.5. the covers are book board covered with original monoprints. The closure is a gold elastic string with a bow. For a closer look, click on the images to enlarge.

the back      and   front covers

Daffodils

The daffodils have been blooming for over a week. I went out yesterday a picked a few after the rain. Sketched and watercolored them this morning over a morning cup of coffee in my large Arteza sketchbook with my waterbrushes. Everything is starting to bud and bloom now.

 

Rhododendron

 

I prefer to paint from life but occasionally I will paint from photos. This is one of those times. We have a purple rhododendron brush in the woods at the side of our house. Every year I plan to paint some of the flowering branches and just don't get around to it before they fade. Well, here are two practice blossoms and a promise to myself to paint the real thing later this year.

Peony Bud

I thought I would try a botanical sketch of this peony bouquet in my large Arteza sketchbook. Not sure why I thought I could do a botanical illustration on this paper. The paper is great for quick simple watercolor and ink sketches but the paper is rough and not framable painting quality. But it was fun. Also this paper is too rough for my good watercolor brushes but works great using nylon bristle waterbrushes. So I decides to just finish the sketch off with ink lines and no additional watercolor.

 

Winter Bouquet

Yesterday I added two pink carnations and the open lily to the freesia sketch. It's interesting that by sketching the flowers separately and only some at a time the bouquet looks quite different.

 

Freesia flowers

At least I think that is the name of these flowers. There were 4 of them in the bouquet I have been painting from. The paper in this Arteza sketchbook is OK for sketching but not fine quality watercolor paper. The sketchbook was very reasonably priced. It is perfect for sketches.

 

Gerber Daisies

 

Not quite keeping up with my daily page sketch. I did this ink sketch of these flowers yesterday and started to add watercolor. But it was today before I finished. The vase could use a table to sit on for grounding. But I am posting more regularly.

Blue Anemone

I bought 2 Arteza 8.3"x11.7" cold press watercolor/mixed media sketchbooks last year. I had hopes for sketching in ink and watercolor every day, filling a page a day. Well, maybe I will meet this expectation before 2023. This little flower only filled half of one page. 

Rhododendron

 

Every year since we moved into this home, almost 10 years ago, I have been wanting to paint some flowers from this bush. This year I kept saying for a week how I needed to go out and cut some off and bring into the studio to paint. Louis surprised me by going out to the woods and cutting a couple of branches off the bush and bringing them and putting them in a vase. Finally, I finished this little watercolor. It has been sitting on the easel for over a month. The photo isn't very good but at least it is done and posted. 

red poppy sketch

In my effort to fill the last pages of this Fabriano sketchbook, I did a quick watercolor of a poppy photo. Not the best illustration but the goal is to paint every day and fill all my partially completed sketchbooks on my shelves. Really don't like the paper in this sketchbook even though it has been highly rated by some artists and the price is a bit high for the quality of the paper. Plus it doesn't lay anywhere near flat when opened.

 

Bind Weed Flower

A quick sketch in a sketchbook which I hope to completely fill in April. I have always liked this little flower. It reminds me of white morning glory. I believe that the difference between flowers/plants and weeds is the amount of effort it takes to grow them. If they grow easily without human intervention, they are weeds. This sketch is 5x5 inches on less than prime watercolor paper which means the pigments aren't as bright and you can't layer or work back into the paint. People who aren't used to working in watercolor will often skimp on paper, buy a cheap one, thinking it doesn't matter. But I think the paper is even more important to a good finished product than pigments. Of course, I like to use the best of both but most sketchbooks are just that, for sketches not paintings.

 

Large Rose

I finished this rose on 19 February but started it in 2020. I am not fond of multi-petal flowers. I personally prefer simple flowers so that means it takes me longer to finish them. This is not because they have more petals to paint but because they generally aren't my favorites, therefore, the lack of interest means they are placed to the side while other projects are worked on.v This painting is on 16x12 cold press 140 Arches watercolor paper.

 

Frontyard Rose

 

We have seven of these rose bushes in our front yard garden. They aren't the most beautiful or most fragrant but they are hardy. We had a similar row of rose bushes at our last house and they lasted for over 20 years until a bad winter snowstorm that killed them off. I am continuing to dig into my paper draw for watercolor paper. This paper is an old scrap piece of Arches Natural White cold press, 300lb. (640 gsm) approximately 8.5 x 11 inches. I cropped it down to a square.

Poppy-Rosebud shoe compostition

 

This little 5x7 card was an experiment based on the concept of using two flowers in a composition that resembles a shoe. It was a fun idea that makes a nice greeting card for a special occasion or just a bit of happy mail for a friend.

Hibiscus

This year we had robins build a nest in our hibiscus tree on the deck. They laid 3 eggs and we watched them grow and got to witness when they left the nest. So I wanted to paint the hibiscus. This painting in on sheet of Arches hot press 140 lb watercolor paper. The cropped size is approximately 8 inches square.