Japanese MagnoliaCopyright
Jan Gibson
This is the second Japanese Magnolia I've painted in watercolor. The first was from a photo reference taken by someone else on a free photo sharing site. This one is from my own photo reference taken at WalMart's garden center of all places! The day was a little overcast so I had to compensate and punch up the color and contrast in this painting.
I can see why it's so desirable to work from life. Most of the time I don't have the luxury of doing that as my main subject matter tends to be less than cooperative at sitting still for long. And I have to admit that I'm usually a very slow painter so even florals or landscapes will change light before I can begin to finish them. Photographs give the luxury of working at my own pace and the time to make changes that may not be there while painting en plein air.
Anyway, thanks to the help of the good people at Let's Make Art, I've finally finished this flower. I have a bunch of photos so maybe I'll paint another one one of these days. I think they're beautiful.
I can see why it's so desirable to work from life. Most of the time I don't have the luxury of doing that as my main subject matter tends to be less than cooperative at sitting still for long. And I have to admit that I'm usually a very slow painter so even florals or landscapes will change light before I can begin to finish them. Photographs give the luxury of working at my own pace and the time to make changes that may not be there while painting en plein air.
Anyway, thanks to the help of the good people at Let's Make Art, I've finally finished this flower. I have a bunch of photos so maybe I'll paint another one one of these days. I think they're beautiful.
3 comments:
A lovely painting Jan. I especially love what you achieved in your background. Very nice indeed!
Lovely Christmas tree too! I am sure your dogs do appreciate the outing to see the Christmas sights. I have a friend whose old dog just passed away. She was recounting how her dog loved Christmas and how he loved it when they put the tree up. She said that he loved getting his present, unwrapping it and all and she was sure that he was thinking of this each year when they started decorating the tree. Dogs are great aren't they?!
Thank you, Teresa. It took a little doing to get this finished but I think I like it! lol
I'm so sorry about your friend's dog passing away. It's hard to lose them as they become part of the family. Our two are both 13 years old and the female is beginning to have some health issues. We know they won't live forever but it's really difficult to even think about life without them.
Yes, dogs are great but I don't think we'll get any more after these are gone. It's too hard to watch them get old and then leave us.
Thanks for stopping by again. I have given up trying to frame pastels without glass but have done a small colored pencil painting using Nicole's method of Lascaux and Damar varnish. I did it right after she first published her method and it's held up well so far. Have you had the opportunity to frame any of your cp work without glass?
Hi Jan, yes it is hard to lose a dog. Incredibly hard. I wish your dogs the best of health in their senior years.
I have a few cp pieces done on Pastelbord and I hope to frame them (without glass) this winter. I will do some test varnishing first. I shall post my adventures on my blog. Hopefully there won't be unpleasant adventures!
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