Pink Tulips

This is another one of my class exercises: to do twelve tiny watercolor paintings of the same view of a flower using only one color, to practice shading. The idea is to practice giving a sense of the three-dimensional shape of the flower using variations in the amount of pigment in the wash. I learned several new techniques for moving small amounts of pigment over wet areas with greater control.

First we sketched the flowers in class (in this case a tulip) and traced it on tracing paper, to transfer it onto the watercolor paper. We did a value study on the tracing paper sketch to decide which areas should be dark, which parts light, and where to put the mid-tones to create the illusion of three dimensions. Using this sketch as a guide, we worked one tiny painting, then went on to the next, and so forth.

Repetition being the key to mastery, this was a very good exercise. The results are pleasing, and the red-pink tones most suitable for a Valentine's Day emblem.

Orchids in Bloom

Orchids in Bloom, oils on canvas panel, 10" x 8," $90 unframed.

With our temperatures in the twenties and a wind chill factor making it feel more like single-digits, it was not a day to paint outdoors. I wanted to paint from life, so I brought one of my orchids up to the studio, along with a fern for greenery.

My sister Bea gave me this variety of Phalaenopsis a few years back and it has bloomed faithfully every year, usually twice a year. I like the unusual greenish-pink colors of the blossoms and their intricate shapes, with the deep rusty- magenta lip where a pollinating insect would land, but they are challenging to paint. I chose a very light backdrop for this painting, but wonder if the val-hues of the orchids have enough contrast with the background to stand out. Perhaps the orchid's colors would have more punch if I'd used a dark background instead?

I'll have to try another version of this later on. This particular spike of flowers opened the week before Christmas and will probably last a few months, giving me plenty of time to work with them again. I wonder if any of my other orchids will bloom before spring.

Painting the Lotus at Mattawoman Creek

Wild Lotus, watercolor, 10" x 5", $100.

After lunch at Mattawoman Creek park, Linda and I put the kayak in the water, loaded our gear and started paddling upstream. In this tidal area the waters are so calm it was difficult to detect much of a current but according to a fisherman we passed, the tide was going out . We paddled lazily past marshy banks of pickerelweed and spatterdock with some grassy plants that might be wild rice. We went round a bend and behold--here were expanses of the creamy yellow blossoms of the native American lotus at the height of their glory!

We continued upstream to a tiny island where Linda had gone swimming other times, but the water weeds were so thick near the shore it wasn't very appealing, so we gave up on swimming and explored on foot instead. We found several spikes of bright red cardinal flowers, pink butterfly weed and hog-peanut vines in flower. A bald eagle soared overhead, its white head majestic in the sunlight. A couple of fishing boats trolled past. With the sun at a lower angle now, it was just the right time to paddle back to paint the lotus.

We pulled into the lotus stand and parked the kayak near one blossom starting to open among several emerging leaves, their curious folds forming half moons sticking out of the water. I looked behind me and was amused to see Linda floating her small watercolor set on top of a lotus leaf (I'm used to holding mine in my left hand like a palette because it has a thumb-hole). I snapped a shot with her camera.

A splash behind us proved to be an osprey diving for fish. The osprey missed its prey and circled around for several passes but eventually gave up and flew away. We finished our sketches around six and paddled back in the evening light at the end of a marvelous day. I felt exhausted but my spirit overflowed with joy at the sight of so many lovely lotus flowers. It had been a perfect lotus day!

A Waterlily Jungle in Maryland

Maryland Waterlily Jungle, oils on gessobord, 12" x 9"

Yesterday I went out to Centennial Park to paint the waterlilies. At this time of the year they form large rafts on the banks of the lake. The more impressive expanses are on the far side of the lake, too far to walk loaded down with painting gear, so I'd settled for a few patches closer to the parking lot. The temperature was already climbing into the 90's and afternoon showers had been forecast. It wasn't until after had I set up my easel, I realized I'd forgotten to bring the turpenoid bucket--no way I can paint without cleaning my brushes, so I packed up and headed back home, with waterlilies on my mind.

At home I found some photos taken last summer on the way to Crisfield, on the eastern shore. Linda and I had seen a pond covered with hundreds of waterlilies in bloom, some of them pink, which is an unusual color for this variety, so we stopped to take photos. I wanted my painting to give the feeling that these waterlilies were wild, so I framed them against a backdrop of tall shady trees, and voila! I like to think in ancient times there once were jungles here in Maryland... whether the waterlilies were native or introduced, I have no idea, but if they were indeed native, perhaps there would have been waterlilies blooming in ponds in this jungle.

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