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"

Pattys Plum - final painting

I have a confession - I don't always enjoy the painting process! Shocking, I know, but sometimes it's a struggle, decisions don't come easily, and getting to the end is a battle.

Occasionally it seems like a watercolour just paints itself, the brush has a life of its own, and you arrive at the final painting feeling like you hardly did anything! This was one of those paintings and, as always seems to happen when I enjoy the process, I love the painting!

Pattys Plum
14" x 11"
watercolours on Fabriano Artistico extra white 140lb paper

Painting summer in spring

This seems to be my normal habit - through winter and spring, I am more likely to paint summer and autumn, then through summer I might paint spring. Winter doesn't usually come into it, there is little colour in the garden, the lighting is poor, so the inspiration isn't there.

I think it's because I need time to allow ideas to develop in my head, or maybe I simply procrastinate too much!

Here's another work based on last summer. The evening primrose in my garden put on an amazing display, with the clearest yellow, papery flowers opening every day and giving out a delicious scent that filled the air. Yellow is an incredibly difficult colour in watercolour, avoiding muddy shadows is a challenge, but I am fairly happy with this one.

Evening Primrose
11" x 15"
Watercolours on 140lb Fab. Artistico X.white CP

Fleeting Beauty

Last summer my garden was full of vibrant colour from delicate opium poppies which moved with the gentle breezes on warm, sunny days. The fragile flowers only looked their best for a day, fading and losing their petals all too soon, but there was always another bud ready to open.

Fleeting Beauty
13x10, watercolours on
Fabriano Artistico extra white HP

Bearded Ladies

Sometimes you have an idea and it just doesn't work - that's what happened with the little blue iris painting I was working on, it just hasn't worked out the way I envisioned. Maybe I can rescue it, but it's more likely to end up in my scrap pile.

So I decided to move on to a reference that had been in my "to do" file since last summer, two beautiful purple bearded iris. This was a completely different experience, I had a clear vision and enjoyed every brushstroke!

Bearded Ladies
14" x 10", watercolour on 140lb Fabriano Artistico extra white, cold pressed

Song of Summer - WIP

It's been a while, the garden has been demanding my attention, which means less time to paint, but the reward is plenty of exciting reference material for future watercolours!

I have found a bit of time though, and wonderful inspiration from a visit to an open garden 2 weeks ago.

I took photos of my progress, so this is a sort of WIP except it has already been finished!

Pink and White

Another from last year, inspired again by the stunning Bodnant Gardens, near Conwy, North Wales.

I have a bit of a reputation for backgrounds, but for this I decided to leave the background as the white of the paper. I think it works really well, letting the echinacea take centre stage with no distractions!

Pink and White
14 x10, watercolours on Fabriano Artistico 140lb CP paper

Sunburst #2

Here's my finished sunflower! I'm very pleased with how it turned out, especially that I managed to retain the freshness of my colours and looseness of my brush strokes. It's very easy to overwork watercolours and make the colours muddy.

Finished, but no photo yet!

The sunflower is done, and I can honestly say I'm glad! Sometimes I start a new work and feel incredibly excited, but the process is interrupted and I lose the real excitement and end up plodding along. That's what happened with this sunflower.

Oh well, here's the final progress image!

Sunflower - more progress

The weekend is always busy in the Harris house, with people in and out constantly, so it's nice to find even a few minutes to paint amid the chaos!

I got a little further with the background (or setting) for the sunflower, and jumped in with my darkest darks in the centre.

Purple or Pink?

Echinacea, commonly known as purple coneflowers but they're usually a lovely, cheerful shade of pink! This was alot of fun to paint.

Purple Cone Flowers, watercolour, 14 x 10 inches

Original available for sale, contact me by email for details.

Simply Summer!

This, to me, is what summer is all about - beautiful flowers and blue skies! It's pretty much my favourite painting from last year.

Giant Daisies, 14 x 20 inches.