Dahlia Continuation!

Well, ever so slowly I am advancing...at least I am finding the shapes and that will be a big help later. I might find only 1-3 petals in a day if I feel tough but it is all helping. Goes to show you that you can paint even a little each day and accomplish quite a bit!!! So no excuses guys! My colors I am sure are not great again but I did learn not to push enhance as that makes them blue which they are not! I am learning! So one will show more of the composition and the other will show the 3 I have been slowly working on.
As to my health...still coughing and very tired but I am improving and am very glad for that!!! I suspect that next week I will begin to feel much better! Thank you all for your kind words here and through emails as that really kept me going! I do have such fine friends here and you are greatly appreciated!

4th Step on Peonies!

I am so sorry this is a little late but my computer just plain made terrible noises and so shut down until someone could check it...when someone finally came it just was the keyboard. Eveidently lightning had done something to it and now I am just fine with my new one! Whew! I was beginning to wonder what to do!
So here is the following snap of where the painting is as of a few days ago. I am continuing to find the shapes and fill in the local color and values but will leave alot of detail value work to the end. That is when I like to really punch in a few more darks. The peony in the lower left is being made up as in the photo it was so dark I could not see anything...so I just started putting petals on top of petals to make a couple of nice shaggy ones for variety. They will take alot more work I am afraid to get them to sit back under the white one. Hopefully in a few days I will have the next step ready. Summer brings friends, company and summer cabin people up here so I do get sidetracked some but still find time to paint a little everyday.

Next On the Watercolor Board!

I have several things ready to work on. I have been delayed with sickness twice this winter and then a workshop just a week ago in Springfield, Illinois that I had to prepare for. Usually a workshop takes a few weeks out of the schedule. For those of you interested there is still Ouray, Colorado and Dillman's in Wisconsin. Visit my website to see the contact emails there.
I have completed a drawing of peonies...and plan to get busy with that shortly. I also have narrowed down the pictures of what I am working on for a commission. The house is all furniture, textiles and dishes from the early 1800's from Norway and Sweden and they want me to document a few things. Unfortunately the lighting is only for an hour in the early morning as the sun comes up because they protect all the textiles from the sun. I think if I could get lighting, I could paint in this house for the rest of my life!
I am beginning to learn that as an artist we also have to be wise enough to know when something doesn't bring us joy. There are always opportunities out there for us but many are not good for us. The wisdom comes in knowing what is right for you and being able to say no to those things. I am finding that I have been doing so much that the simple of joy of painting has been lost. My goal this summer is to find that back again. I believe I became burnt out doing the book too so needed to rest and figure out my mext move. My next move might be to just stay home and paint!!!Traveling and recognition is not always as wonderful as we imagine it to be. We have this romantic idea that it will spur us on to bigger and greater things when in fact it often steers us away from the very things that would make us happy. For me, a day spent driving in the car and finding subject matter to paint is far more wonderful that doing the computer and business end....and there is far too much of that now. As a wife and mother, there is not enough time. A man usually has a great wife who steps in to help with this and that allows them more painting time. For me, that just is not going to happen so I have to set some boundries. Lesson learned. I hope you can learn from me and not have to go through the struggle. Enjoy where you are and live each day to the fullest. It is not always greener on the other side of the fence! Ha!
As soon as I get some ground colors into things I will begin to post. Otherwise it is so hard to see. I did go into photoshop and enhance the black and white so you can see the beginning drawing for the peonies. Remember, this is not how dark the drawing is. It is actually quite light.