Pastel floral painting of a pot of fading geraniums on a table.
Pastel floral painting 18 inches x 18 inches
I’m heading down south looking for some warm weather and it reminded me of the plants and flowers I love to paint. This floral pastel hits close to home. Ever year we buy potted geraniums to adorn our deck and every year, right around August, they start to loose their luster. I actually find them much more interesting when they are crumbling and on their way out, than I do when they are all perky and pristine. I really liked the close, cropped composition of this piece, and was especially taken with the bold stripes of the chair in the background.
This is a large pastel floral painting that I did a few years ago after visiting the San Diego Zoo. Funny that with all of the animals there, I chose to paint a bunch of flowers that were planted on a ridge. It was given an Honorable Mention award in the 2009 Pastel Journal 100 show. This piece will be exhibited along with many other wonderful pastel paintings at the upcoming Ann Arbor Pastelists show at the Ypsilanti Library from January 14 – March 15th, 2012. There will be an artist’s reception on Saturday, January 14th from 4 – 6pm. Hope you can stop by!
Pastel garden painting of hydrangeas in full bloom.
Pastel painting 9 inches x 13 inches
It’s way past prime garden time in Michigan right now. The plants and trees are all bare and the flowers are long gone. But I took hundreds of research photos from the 6 gardens that will be on next year’s Ann Arbor Garden Walk and I am starting to work on pastel floral paintings in my studio. A group of artists will be exhibiting our artwork at the event in June. These hydrangeas were in a garden of a beautiful old home, built by President Millard Filmore’s brother in the 1800s, just outside of Ann Arbor, Michigan. I love the way the sunlight hit the petals and contrasted with the cool background of the old house.
Plein air gouache painting of summer flower pots on a deck.
Plein air gouache painting 7 inches x 9.5 inches
This summer I continued to play with a new medium: gouache. To me, it feels like a cross between watercolor and acrylic. You can paint thinly and create nice washes AND you can paint opaquely and cover previous strokes. (this intrigues me because I am constantly tossing watercolor paintings that I can’t fix.) Its taking me a while to get the hang of it so I thought I’d post some of my attempts from time to time. This floral painting view is right outside our back door on our deck.
Plein air watercolor painting of a flower garden against a shaded wall.
Plein air watercolor painting 7 inches x 9.5 inches
This cutting garden looked very dramatic against the shaded house so I thought I’d do a watercolor painting of it. But there was so much detail that I couldn’t capture all of it. I decided to do a loose, freestyle version of what I was seeing. That is an ongoing challenge for me with floral paintings. Include every little bit of foilage and flower, or try to get down the general feeling of the view?
Plein air watercolor landscape painting of a roadside garden
Plein air watercolor painting 9.5 inches x 7 inches
We had a whole gaggle of plein air garden painters at another new site on Wednesday. It was a small area and we were all packed in, gabbing and painting. Pure heaven. This time I decided to switch back to watercolor landscapes. It was sunny and warm again so the colors dried quickly and kept their vibrant hues. I love watercolor painting in this type of weather! This site still had a lot of plants blooming so it was a perfect time to get in a couple more floral paintings. Every day that passes moves us closer to autumn…
Plein air watercolor landscape painting of a July garden in Ann Arbor, Michigan
Plein air watercolor painting 7 inches x 10.5 inches
Another garden view from the older home I’ve visited a few times. I keep switching back and forth between plein air watercolor and pastel garden paintings, trying to decide which medium works best for flower filled landscapes. They each have their good points…guess I will just keep painting in both mediums…
Plein air pastel landscape painting of a flower urn along a garden path.
Pastel painting 9 inches x 12 inches
Another pastel garden painting! This property is amazing. It has every type of garden you can imagine. Formal shaded areas, large sunny meadows, wild flowers, wooded trails and creekbeds. Everything a Michigan plein air artist could hope for. I’ve painted on their beautiful grounds quite a few times and am starting to feel like one of the family. I always knock on the garden owner’s door to let them know I will be wandering their property. Its too creepy otherwise.
There was so many views to consider, it was almost overwhelming. I settled on this “small” scene since it was so hot and I knew I would not be able to take the heat for more than an hour or so. Plein air painting is not for sissies!
Plein air pastel floral painting of a pot of begonias in the sun.
Pastel painting 6 inches x 8 inches
Quick sketch of newly planted begonias on our back deck. They made such a bright and hopeful subject, I just couldn’t resist doing a flower pastel painting of them!
Hope you all have a sunny, happy Memorial Day Weekend!
Plein air pastel painting of a bird bath in a spring garden.
Pastel painting 8.5 inches x 11.5 inches
Didn’t have time today for a full painting foray in the big world so I decided to do a pastel landscape right in my own backyard. Our bleeding hearts are in full show and I liked how they looked behind our birdbath. People were cutting grass and sawing wood all around me so this garden painting is much more peaceful than the actual experience of creating it was!
Plein air pastel painting of water lilies about to open in the morning.
Pastel painting 13.5 inches x 9 inches
I’d never painted a water lily before last month. Suddenly, I am in love with them and can totally understand why painters through the ages have been drawn to them. Every leaf is interesting and unique and the bright flowers create a perfect focal point. But my favorite part is the endless variations of how sunlight hits the surrounding water, creating highlights and deep shadows.
The Naples Botanical Gardens has a huge variety of water lilies in their many themed “rooms.” I spent a few Tuesday mornings working on floral paintings there. This is the only pastel painting I did, but I experimented with quite a few watercolor versions.
Plein air watercolor painting of a pond with water lillies
Plein air watercolor painting 7 inches x 10.5 inches
Back from a wonderful, sunny month in Naples, Florida. We left frigid Michigan just in time–right before it was socked with two huge blizzards.
I painted quite a few pastels and watercolors when we were down there, spending a couple of hours every day looking for interesting sites. One of my favorite places was the Naples Botanical Gardens. Every Tuesday morning they welcome artists, easels and all, to paint on their beautiful grounds. I was fascinated with all of the gorgeous water lilies in the ponds at the park. I’d never painted them before, but was really happy with the way this plein air watercolor painting came out. I took tons of photos to work larger, possibly in pastel, back in the studio.
