I think this is more successful but still I can’t achieve that gentle transition to the highlights- my tendency in general, is to get darker and darker- this is a combination of watercolor and pencil- basically I end up adding the highlights back in and I am not sure if thats the best way to achieve a gentle transition
Hi Rita- this is looking good and I like the stems and petals you added. It is a nice horizontal composition, but I would prefer that the flowers were a little higher than the flanking details. Maybe think of a adding another flower to the bunch that would be close, but above the other two blooms. Especially with dark, saturated colors you are not going to have bright highlights on the petals because they are not shiny, but they should have lighter areas where highlights would be and you are correct it looks better when you are planning on the light areas from the start instead of adding them later. As you know, having the range of darks, mid-ranges and highlights give your flower it’s form. You don’t want to have a blanket saturation on all of the petals and I know you are working on that. I am sending a picture of a pansy I did that hopefully will be a good reference for you. Pansy season is coming and they are great subjects to work on for deep, rich, saturated colors. I work on new ones every Spring. Keep up the good work!
Thank you for your help!- the pansy is a great example and something to aspire to- I am in Los Angeles and there is an explosion of flowers all around in empty fields etc- I don’t know what most of them are, but I am picking them on my walks- Your comments are helpful and I am hoping if I keep working at these that at some point I will get where I am wanting to go- Thanks so much for your inputs because I was really looking forward to a workshop (MAY), but now I am doubting it will happen but fingers crossed and maybe it will- STAY WELL
Hi Rita- These flowers look like perennial geraniums to me – shape, colors and stamens. Maybe look online and see if that looks right- leaves are very distinctive. Be sure to put in perennial because the annual variety is what most people think of when they hear geranium and they are very different! Take care! Hope we will see you here sometime if not this May!
I think this is more successful but still I can’t achieve that gentle transition to the highlights- my tendency in general, is to get darker and darker- this is a combination of watercolor and pencil- basically I end up adding the highlights back in and I am not sure if thats the best way to achieve a gentle transition
the green stems on the right is what was left after the petals dropped off of the flowers I was working on
Hi Rita- this is looking good and I like the stems and petals you added. It is a nice horizontal composition, but I would prefer that the flowers were a little higher than the flanking details. Maybe think of a adding another flower to the bunch that would be close, but above the other two blooms. Especially with dark, saturated colors you are not going to have bright highlights on the petals because they are not shiny, but they should have lighter areas where highlights would be and you are correct it looks better when you are planning on the light areas from the start instead of adding them later. As you know, having the range of darks, mid-ranges and highlights give your flower it’s form. You don’t want to have a blanket saturation on all of the petals and I know you are working on that. I am sending a picture of a pansy I did that hopefully will be a good reference for you. Pansy season is coming and they are great subjects to work on for deep, rich, saturated colors. I work on new ones every Spring. Keep up the good work!
Thank you for your help!- the pansy is a great example and something to aspire to- I am in Los Angeles and there is an explosion of flowers all around in empty fields etc- I don’t know what most of them are, but I am picking them on my walks- Your comments are helpful and I am hoping if I keep working at these that at some point I will get where I am wanting to go- Thanks so much for your inputs because I was really looking forward to a workshop (MAY), but now I am doubting it will happen but fingers crossed and maybe it will- STAY WELL
Hi Rita- These flowers look like perennial geraniums to me – shape, colors and stamens. Maybe look online and see if that looks right- leaves are very distinctive. Be sure to put in perennial because the annual variety is what most people think of when they hear geranium and they are very different! Take care! Hope we will see you here sometime if not this May!