Cherry Time

 Although the weather has been lovely and the garden has called, I have still found the time to do quite a bit of painting. I have been looking for subjects which , although they include flowers, have a bit of variation about  them. Not sure yet that I have got it right, but am quite pleased with the result and the comments from Club members on Thursday was favourable. The only bit I would like to change is the two central buds. They      seem a bit stiff, as cherry blossom tends to gently hang more than that, but I am afraid to spoil the painting,  although it is not too late to add a couple of suggested buds behind the lower one of the two. Maybe I will give it a go, before I mount and maybe frame it for the exhibition. Hope you enjoy looking.

                                            'Cherry Time'    Watercolour on Fabriano Artistico
                                            Extra White Rough. 36cm x 26cm

I used lots of Opera Rose and Quinacridone Magenta for the flowers with Ultramarine Violet in the shadows.
To avoid a 'too pink' painting I deliberately chose to paint slightly yellow cherries, so I used Alizarin Crimson and Indian Yellow. I then used the Alizarin Crimson in the top left corner of the background to link the two areas together and added a little Quinacridone Rust to the left of the bowl to help link it all together. (In the original, this band of colour is much more subtle, not sure why the scanner has picked it up so strongly!) Hope you think it works.