Saturday 15 June 2013

Apricot Ramblers





These beautiful roses are the first to appear in my garden and I have painted them several times, but still cannot resist having another go. Unfortunately for us, they were planted on the south-east side of the plot, and most of the flowers are enjoyed by my neighbour as the plant turns its head to the sun. I am trying to encourage the rambler to scramble over an adjacent arch so we can see then full face in our garden too.

I have been caring for my very elderly mother who fell and broke her right arm, so painting in the studio has been abandoned for the time being, and I have painted in our conservatory where I can  keep her company. Therefore, no mess, no splattering and I am afraid there are no photos of the process this time. It is however, a very traditional painting.....a careful drawing, painting the flowers and then adding the background.




There is no added white acrylic this time, just watercolour and white paper. The major colours are Translucent Orange with some Quinachridone Coral for the flowers and mostly Apatite Green Genuine and Indigo Blue for the foliage.
I debated at length about the amount of white left at the bottom of the painting, but, in the end, having tested it in a frame I decided to leave well alone. 

10 comments:

  1. Sorry to hear about your Mum. These roses are so lovely and well painted.

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    1. Thanks Polly. glad you like the painting and Mum well on the mend now!

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  3. I am sorry to hear about your mother. I hope she is healing well and quickly.
    Your roses are exquisite, and I do love the colors you have used.

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    1. Thanks Kathryn. Yes she is doing fine and goes home tomorrow. The pigments are great, I love them, but these colours are less popular at exhibitions. Strange isn't it!

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  4. Thank you Larry. What a lovely comment.

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  5. Those colours have my vote every time. It is a beautiful painting. Never having exhibited my work I hadn't realised that different colours had different rates of popularity!

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  6. Thank you, Christine for the lovely comment. Yes, it does seem strange about the colour popularity, but I suppose its like home furnishings....they have trends too. It is also strange that the flowers themselves seem to have cycles of popularity. One year I can sell lots of laverder, then another year it could be agapanthus, then poppies etc.Glad I am not in the retail business. Could never judge next years trends!!

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