This year, I’ve made it a goal of mine to focus on loose floral paintings. I’m off to a slow start, but I have started. Here’s where I’m at so far.
I created a quick loose sketch on this 24″x30″ canvas using charcoal. Charcoal feels so wonderful to sketch with. It flows effortlessly from my fingertips. However, it’s kinda messy. The smudges are just that, smudges from my sleeve of all things. I hadn’t even realized I was wiping off my drawing, hah.
Charcoal allows me to sketch fast. There are ways to preserve the strokes of charcoal, but I wasn’t concerned about preserving them this time. Maybe in the future because they do have a nice loose floral look.
Then, just for my own pleasure it seems, I started to play around with pastels and added color in the leaves and flowers.You can see the bright green, orange and purple. That quickly got covered up as well.
Sometimes, when I add paint it’s easy to lose the initial looseness of the sketch. I was working fast with the background colors to keep the loose and fresh feel.
This is where I’ve left it. It sits on my painting wall in my art studio. I look at it all of the time telling it soon, soon as I walk by to get into the greenhouse. I’m so ready to jump back in.
But things must be done first. I’ve been working on overhauling this website. Jeesh what a job that’s been. Commissioned work painted, and ugh doctors appointments and all the little necessities of life. As I get older, I notice I’m visiting the doctor way more than I want to. Who’s got time for all of that? Not me!
Apparently I have to make time. A recent biopsy said a hysterectomy is necessary. Bleh. Maybe in March. With Spring almost here I most certainly don’t have time for any kind of bed rest nonsense. I can hear the weeds growing as I write this.
Back to my work, I just finished three dog portraits and I’ll share them next time. They turned out really good and I’m proud of them but my heart is whispering to me remember the loose floral painting??
Yes, that. Do more of that.
← Rabbit, rabbit, rabbit / Dog portraits of three local shelter dogs ⟶
some of my paintings
Learn more about me on the ‘About’ page under the additional links menu. I’m an artist – a painter mostly and an avid gardener. I paint a variety of subjects including birds, koi fish, my gardens, ponds and flowers as well as anything having to do with nature especially trees and tropical scenes. I also enjoy painting abstracts and have started created more and more of them. My most favorite thing to try to achieve in my painting is is mystery and telling mystical stories.
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Please do remember the floral painting; I’d love to see what you do with it. Hysterectomy – sounds like so much fun! Hope it goes smoothly and recovery time is short. But don’t push it. The weeds will wait for you.
Ah yes so much fun for the hysterectomy. Ha ha Thanks for the advice Lisa, I know you’re right. Life has a way of laughing when we make plans, doesn’t it? I have plans of my first ever open studio and garden tour this summer and getting a jump start on those weeds would’ve made it more manageable. I’ll manage. Thank you for the short recovery wish, I wish that, too!
I certainly will remember the floral. It’s back near the top of the list now that I’ve got my collector picking up her dog portraits this morning. Happily, I’ve got two more canvases the same size prepped and ready for a floral of their own. I’ve even got a base color down, so I’m ahead of the game.