Saturday 27 September 2008

Virtual Sketch Date - September

'Peony'
28.5cm x 20cm
Watercolour and Coloured pencil on Paper

So here's my entry for September's VSD. I used watercolour plus a bit of tweaking with coloured pencil on Fabriano watercolour paper. I'm starting to enjoy watercolour a bit more, although I still find it a bit unpredictable at times. This was a great image to work from with a number of challenges - I did a version before this one with a black background but it felt too harsh so I used a dark purple here with a bit of blue pencil on the left, also the vase was tricky, especially the top and I still haven't got that right but I can live with it. The flower itself was enjoyable to do, to get some colour and some delicacy. I decided to have another go, and used soft pastels - in my head I was going for a Georgia O'Keefe look, but that was just in my head of course...

'Peony 2'
16 cm x 16cm
Soft Pastels on Paper

23 comments:

Marion said...

What lovely vivid colours. I love it. Well done

Kari Gibson said...

I love the first image, it works so well - yes, watercolour can be unpredictable at times, but you have got it licked!

The second image is an unusual interpretation and I like seeing those colours close up like that.

Stacy said...

Another lovely peony - two actually! In the first one I like the strokes of color that follow the shape of the petals. The second one is nice with the limited palette. It doesn't seem like you have any trouble with the unpredictable nature of watercolor.

Jeanette Jobson said...

Impressive. Watercolour works beautifully with this piece. The shapes and colours are great.

"JeanneG" said...

Very nice. Very nice use of colors. I wished afterward that I had gone with a lighter color background.

Nic Bridges said...

Both beautiful! You pulled off the "Georgia" version far better than I did. Well done!!

Andy said...

Thank you all for the comments, I did enjoy this one, but one of the best bits of this whole VSD thing is seeing what everyone else has done.

Nic - interesting we both thought "Georgia", but of course I prefer yours. Mine was just a dabble in pastels really. Somehow when mine scanned the top went green, it is black in the original!

Cathy Gatland said...

Gorgeous colours...I like in the first one how the blossom looks like it's flying off to the left. Soft pastels are a great medium to do those pinks in.

cathyswatercolors said...

Both of your paintings are beautiful. The first is so spot on,with luminous colors. The second close up,my favorite,colors are soft and lovely.

Regina Calton Burchett said...

Very nice combination of colored pencil and watercolor - I'd love to see a larger view!

Ann said...

I like both of these. Love the color with the blue background in the first and the O'Keeffe image is so vibrant. Both are lovely.

Jennifer Rose said...

very light and airy :) great colours

Rose Welty said...

You've managed to get all those petals in...every time I tried that I lost all structure...you've done some lovely work here.

Leslie Hawes said...

Hi Andy!
I had to use purple to tone down the black background, also.
Both of these are great!
Isn't the sketch date fun? Glad youare joining in.

Leslie Hawes said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
joanieART said...

Very Very pretty! Would love to see it a bit larger....

Delicate and lovely.

Sharon said...

Beautiful!

Deborah said...

Very, very nice! So soft...I just want to climb up and take a nap on those petals.

Gail Bartel said...

Beautiful work Andy, I too had difficulty with the background. Love the softness in the petals.

Jo Castillo said...

These are lovely, you have a nice touch with the watercolors.

Paulette said...

This has a nice crisp look to it.
Well done!
I like the more dreamy look to the second one also.

Vivienne said...

Lovely clean effect of the glass and frilly-edged flowers against those dark backgrounds (how strange that your black was edited to green by the scanner!)The first is quite large ... how brave! It must be really stunning on that scale.Well done.

Quilt knit said...

Very well done! Just love the whole outcome.

Sherrie Roberts