A couple of weeks ago, I created two new tulip landscape paintings. My thought for painting them besides my love of flowers, was Mother’s Day. So, I sent out a call for flower suggestions for paintings to my email list.
I had some suggestions, but one stood out because my subscriber sent along photos of the most incredible tulip garden I’ve even seen. I knew I had to paint at least a couple of the many photos she sent. The magnificent tulips are in a private garden on the Ohio River in a small nearby town called Newburgh.
Occasionally, I’ll ask for reference photos, ideas or suggestions from my email list. I’m always delighted with the warm response I get. My collectors and subscribers are so special to me.
I love to share with them my newest paintings and give them first chance at them, at least by a few hours. Special perks also include little surprises every now and then like exclusive downloads of phone wallpaper. If you’d like to join my email list, just sign up here.
In the photos above, I show my sketch for the tulips paintings and then my first painting on them. Brushstrokes to actually cover up the sketch. I’m not sure if I’ll continue that process or not. It might have just been wasted time. I was practicing some new techniques I have recently learned, but I’m not sure it actually helped me or improved my paintings.
It’s good to vary the process, I think. If for nothing else, it shows me what I don’t like or want to do. Who knows, I might run into something that helps me and I don’t want to miss out on that. Above, is a magenta underpainting. It barely shows in the end, so it may have been another waste of time.
The above photo is what I’d call a messy middle. It reminds me of a bad Miami Vice wardrobe. Hah! 80’s colors. But there’s a method to my madness.
As I made progress on the landscape painting above, I really enjoyed using the photo provided and taking a little creative license to add a better view of the Ohio River.
Here’s the finished painting of the the pink with yellow centers tulips. These were fancy tulips and so beautiful. It’s hard to do Mother Nature justice.
Finally, the finished landscape with the river and trees. The pink tulips painting didn’t come as easy to me as the red tulips did. That’s the way it goes.
I am offering prints of these two paintings. Happily, the originals have sold. Now, I’ve got a couple of geraniums sketched and ready to paint on my easel. Spring is so inspiring!
My gardens are growing like gangbusters. I’ll be sharing them on my blog here soon. All this past weekend (Mother’s Day weekend) I was pulling weeds, trimming off deadwood and tying up rose canes. It’s crazy busy, but I love this time of year and it’s going by fast.
← On my easel currently – deer & stag painting / 2023 Spring Studio Gardens Tour ⟶
A few paintings I’ve created
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.
If you would like to keep up with what I’m doing, I have a newsletter called Visual Stories that’s e-mailed two to three times a month that gives you special status. Subscribers often get first dibs at new paintings, invitations to events, birthday greetings and more. I’d love for you to add your email to my Friends and Collectors list!
