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

Last Year's Iris

We're suffering miserable spring weather in the UK at the moment, it has been cold and wet and miserable and I think the flowers are sulking!  I went through my photos from previous springs and found a lovely iris to cheer me up.  Finances being tight at the moment I need to sell more and figured small work would be more affordable, so I'm working on a series of small square works.... fingers crossed this strategy works!

Square Dance - 7.5" x 7.5", watercolour on Fabriano Artistico extra white paper

Buy Square Dance

Cathedral Gold WIP

I had this reference, golden lilies in the gardens of Hereford Cathedral, in my "to paint" file for several years, but somehow I always passed it over. I imagine I was avoiding the numerous challenges it offered - the first being yellow! It's so hard to shade yellow without ending up with mud. My pet hate is the recommended complementary colour, violet, which results in a dull grey. I prefer to use colours which are closer to yellow - orange and red.

Stage one, I'm already getting some good form in the flowers using azo yellow, winsor yellow deep and alizarin crimson. The background is started using the yellows and indanthrene blue.


The first lily is pretty much done now, the stamens are painted in a strong red made with WYD and AC.


Starting to add form to the main flower, while also working on the background elements. My second challenge was the foliage, and I chose to keep it fairly loose with quick brushstrokes in AY and adding blue wet in wet.


Taking shape nicely now, most of the background flowers are done.


Now the really strong shadows are added to the main lily, using an orange made with AC and WYD. The last of the foliage is painted in the same way as the rest.


Now to finish the background and another dilemma - do I paint over the fiddly foliage or paint around it? I decided on a combination of both so some would be more defined and others would blend into the rest of the background.


A few finishing touches and it's done!

Something different!

It's unusual for me to be inspired by something other than flowers, they seem to call to me unlike anything else, but last weekend it happened!

I saw this adorable little girl, obviously totally absorbed in the task of feeding pigeons with scraps of leftover bread, and couldn't resist her charm.

Feed the Birds
Watercolour on 140lb Fabriano Artistico extra white

Blue Eyes - WIP

The first colour of the year in the garden, these delightful little flowers almost look like they don't belong among the greys and browns! I don't really know where I'm headed with this one, I'm hoping the composition will develop naturally as I paint.

Meet Winston!

I had a busy day yesterday, finishing the painting of Winston for the Friday Foto challenge on www.paintingfriends.com , then creating my first Zazzle store in an effort to make some money from my obsession!

Here's Winston the French Bulldog, he owns Desiree Habicht's daughter and her family. Apparently he's a terror, but how could a face like that be hiding a monster?

Winston -
14x10, watercolours on Fabriano Artistico Xtrawhite HP

My new Zazzle store is very much a work in progress, but if you would like to have a look you will find it at http://www.zazzle.co.uk/RSHarts*

Trying new things

It' s sometimes fun to try different methods and media - here's a watercolour on masa paper that I did before Christmas. The crinkled masa paper creates interesting textures and the pigments look more vibrant.

Autumn Gold -
14x10, watercolour on masa paper

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!

What is Watercolour?

Katherine Tyrell has an in-depth article about this often divisive question on her blog, Making a Mark today - it's well worth reading!

For me, watercolour is just that - watercolour paint (as labelled on the tube or pan), activated with water and painted on paper. Anything else should be labelled as watermedia. If, once dried, paint cannot be re-activated with water it isn't watercolour. I think it would be a terrible shame if the traditional media of watercolour, used by so many of our great artists in the past, was lost in a sea of watered down acrylics!

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

Primary Tulips

It's tulip time - the shops are full of colourful bunches, and I can never resist buying a bunch of mixed colours. I think the recent snowy weather got to me and affected my palette for this painting!

Primary Tulips, 10x14 inches on Fabriano Artistico watercolour paper.

Sunflowers - continued

I had a little more time today, in between the housework and cooking! I'm trying to keep it loose and fresh, while the pencil lines are there, they are only a guide.

Antidote to winter

On these long, dull, cold winter days I look for something to cheer me up, and that usually means painting a bright flower. This time it's a sunflower, from one of my own reference images.

I started out by sketching the outline then masking a few highlights. Once the masking fluid was completely dry I quickly wet the paper using a large brush - doing it quickly leaves a few dry areas which will stay white when pigment is added.

Here it is after the first pass - Azo yellow and gamboge wet in wet.


Now the individual petals need form, more wet in wet but one at a time, using azo yellow, gamboge and quinacridone coral.


I'm excited about this one, but life always gets in the way so this is all I've managed to do today - very frustrating!

Something new!

I don't claim to be a great portrait artist - I struggle with getting a likeness, I much prefer the freedom I get from painting flowers! But, in the interest of improvement, I had a go at painting my youngest daughter, Katy.

Not content with the challenge of painting a portrait, I then chose a reference where Katy was smiling, all teeth! I'm mad!

After a week of stress, I'm done.

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.

Summer Sorbets #1

This one didn't work how I wanted it to so it's already being done again!

10x14, watercolours on Fabriano 140lb cold press.

I'm going to try to remember to take progress images while I paint Summer Sorbets 2, watch this space.

Cloister Cluster - Work in Progress

A recent visit to Gloucester Cathedral with a good friend has inspired me hugely! Just before we left I spotted a tour party in the cloisters, silhouetted against the stained glass windows, and I quickly took a photo knowing it would make a wonderful painting. Whether I can pull it off is another matter!

Here's my drawing, on 140lb Fabriano Artistico extra white paper. There's quite alot of detail in the archetecture, but I'm hoping it won't look too fiddly.

The first step was to lay in a wash of quinacridone gold on all but the windows, then I started building the stonework paying careful attention to the coloured light from the stained glass. I still have a long way to go but I think it might actually work!