Irises in progress

Inspired by the incredible work of Rosie Sanders I decided to start a large (half sheet) watercolour of the bearded irises in my garden.  The background will be the white of the paper which is a challenge in itself!  The first image is a detail showing where I'm up to so far, the other three are progress images showing the whole thing.  So far, so good!

Poppy play (WIP)

The poppies are still looking amazing in my garden, the bright red flowers shouting "PAINT ME!!!"  It would be rude not to!

I'm enjoying a basically analogous palette for most of my paintings at the moment, loving the way red and pink interact, and that was the starting point for this watercolour.  I've become more and more comfortable with hot pressed paper, finally enjoying the way the pigment slides around on the surface, and the bonus of amazingly vibrant colour!

Here's the final painting and then three progress images.

Fiesta - 15" x 11" watercolour on hot pressed paper