Perfect Partners

Going through my reference photos for the millionth time, a photo I took at Longleat House caught my eye.  I don't know why something that I've previously passed over suddenly shouts "Paint me!", but it happens all the time, maybe as my style evolves I become more adept at adapting promising references into good paintings?

This time it was a photo of a herbaceous border with red poppies and purple allium, I played with a few different compositions in thumbnail sketches and finally decided to have the poppies in the foreground with a diagonal sweep, and alliums in the background.

Perfect Partners
Watercolour, 15" x 11"

Birth of a Watercolour - how I painted Blueberry Fizz

Last week I treated myself to a bunch of blue anemones.  I think they're my new favourite flowers with their velvety petals and amazing blue colour.  I set about trying out colours in quick sketches and discovered that W&N Smalt combined with cobalt violet were perfect, and the granulation of both pigments was beautiful.  

Blueberry Fizz - watercolour, 15" x 11"Not for sale

Starting with a simple drawing to guide me, I added some tiny spots of masking to reserve a few highlights and, once that was dry, wet the paper before dropping in colour.  Remember the pencil lines were only there to guide me, the wet paper allowed the pigment to spread and soften edges.

Then it was simply a case of building colour and form, working on individual petals by wetting then adding more pigment.

 Purple/blue flowers can easily look flat and lifeless, but my choice of pigments helped to keep things lively. I used some ultramarine and quin. magenta for darker areas on the petals, always being careful to allow textures to show through the washes.

 Now the detail in the centre, bringing in one more colour.  Indanthrene blue was perfect for the dark centre, and texture was added by sprinkling a little salt in the wet wash.

I had one more decision to make...... what about the stem?  The flower needed some form of support, but the yellow-green stem would have looked incongruous among the blues and violets.  I decided  to suggest a gently curved stem with a purple wash, hard edged on one side and fading out so there is no edge on the other side.  Done!

I've been spending more time working from life recently, it's a challenge but I've found it easier to paint directly from life than drawing first.... I have more freedom with a paintbrush, pencils are too static and restrictive.

I bought a bunch of wonderful parrot tulips, they're amazing to paint!  All the frills and flounces would have taken me hours to draw accurately, so I dampened the paper and started adding colour, developing the curves and ruffles as I went.  I'm quite pleased with how it turned out!

Orange Parrots - ©Ruth S HarrisWatercolour, 15" x  11"

If in doubt, try a crop!

This was painted last month, around Valentine's Day, so of course it had to be called "Roses are Red".  I've been doing more work without drawing recently, it allows me to enjoy placing the brushstrokes without any boundaries.

I started this as a quarter sheet but the left side wasn't working, so it's now cropped to a 9.5" square and I like the modern feel that gives to the painting.

Roses are Red - 9.5" x 9.5", watercolour on paper ©Ruth S Harris

Papery Poppies

I needed some red after all the yellow daffodils, so back to poppies!  When I started I intended to only paint a few poppies and leave the background white, but it evolved and turned into a small, square wildflower meadow with an out of focus background.  I'm really happy with how the poppies turned out, especially the focal poppy.  I think the secret of papery petals is lots of water and careful brushstrokes, keeping washes fluid and light.

©Ruth S Harris - Poppy Meadow - Watercolour, 7.25" x 7.5"

A bunch of daffodils

One bunch of daffodils can provide inspiration for many sketches!

First, the whole bunch...

Birthday Daffodils - © Ruth S Harris 2013
Watercolour 15" x 11"

Then single flowers...

Single Daff from life #1 - ©Ruth S Harris 2013
Watercolour 5.5" x 7.5"

Single Daff from life #2 - ©Ruth S Harris 2013
Watercolour 5.5" x 7.5"

Single Daff from life #3 - ©Ruth S Harris 2013
Watercolour 5.5" x 7.5"

It's great practice at painting from life, with different angles presenting different challenges.

Dreaming of Spring

This has been the longest winter ever, or at least it feels that way!  We seemed to jump from spring last year straight to autumn and winter, no summer at all, which is incredibly depressing.  Now it's February and thoughts turn again to spring and daffodils.

Dreaming of Spring - watercolour, 11" x 15"

©Ruth S Harris

Dreaming of Spring - detail©Ruth S Harris

This painting is currently available to buy from my Folksy.com shop

January Inspiration

I don't know whether it's because of the enforced break from painting over Christmas, but January seems to be my most experimental and inspired month!  Last January I painted Cosmic Poppies, which went on to win the SAA Amateur Artist of the Year award, this week I've painted this, White Windflowers, and it's not at all like my usual work!

White Windflowers - watercolour, 15" x 11" $150

So 2013 is off to a good start, let's hope I can keep the energy flowing!