Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Maggie in a jar


Here is my exhausting magnolia project... Learned lots of good lessons. And still more to learn about all that delicate shading of white petals... However, I don't think it looks as awful as I first thought it would. (My mood progressed from frustration and desperation to "...okay, this isn't so bad..." The upper photo was taken inside under a yellow spot light. The below photo was taken outside in natural sunlight. Interesting how the colours change. Below is the more accurate colouring. I'm most encouraged by the 3 inner (smaller) petals, and I like how the loose leaves lying on the table turned out. I also enjoyed how the purply-greenish background took on a life of its own. Watching the watercolour bleed, merge and mingle on the paper was a pleasurable experience!

5 comments:

Vivienne said...

These are both lovely, Mrs Ketchup. The moody sepia tones are rather nice, though obviously the pure white is more accurate. I love how you have shown the fallen stamens caught in the folds of the petals... the brink of decay! Well done, and they look quite effortless! XX

Cathy Gatland said...

You have lovely shades of white in the petals, and their shapes are beautiful - also the fallen leaves on the table...baie mooi! You must have looked very hard at all that fine detail, it is exhausting, hey? As Mrs Kitchen says though, it looks effortless.

Gillian said...

Thank you sisters! I do love how the stamens fall into the petals! This painting went from desperation thinking I'd botched it, especially my starting point, the petal at 6 o'clock. But I'm glad I stuck with it, as I think things improved. And posting it improved the painting more! I placed the fallen leaves there as I didn't know what to do with all the surface area (a brown desk) and I like how they turned out.

Gillian said...

I'm sorry now that I didn't think of making the background that orange-ochre-sepia colour...? Its also the colour of the petals when they go brown. Do you think I could paint OVER the purple-green?

Vivienne said...

Nah, Leave it!
In my humble opinion.
Why not do a really really QUICK wet splashy painting of magnolias, and put the sepia background in that one. You've had all the practice now, it does not matter if it doesn't work, but you'll see if you like the combo.