Water Lilies

One of the great things about Avon Valley Artists is that the set programme pushes you out of your comfort zone and can result in surprising paintings. This week was no exception and the painting I produced is so what I didn't expect and so unlike my usual style. It was not intentional, just the way it went!

The subject was 'Water', and being me, I chose a photo of a couple of water lilies which I took last summer, where I had the joy of painting the flowers, but there was plenty of water to satisfy the subject.

I didn't stop to think think through the process, and I was so anxious to be seen to be painting water during the session (as one of the organisers, I stick rigidly to the rules ) that I didn't think about how to integrate the flowers into the water once it was painted! I also struggled a bit as I did not have much detail in the water to help me produce it and it is not something I paint on a regular basis so I had to make it up a bit as I went along!

When I had finished the water - I used mixtures of  Ultramarine and Anthraquinachridone Blues with Teal Blue and some white Acrylic Gouache added into the wet washes - and started painting the leaves, I realised that all the hard water edges were dry and probably too dark to soften successfully.

 It needed a change of plan. I made the decision to continue with the 'illustrative' style of painting and added the flowers with no bleed at the edges of the petals and shadows very cleanly defined. I did add plenty of splatter at the end to soften the overall effect, but still the painting is startlingly dissimilar to my usual aspirations.

What I did enjoy, was having a go at painting dew drops on the front petals of the LH Lily. I saw this process illustrated ages ago in a book by Jan Kunz 'Painting Watercolour Florals That Glow' but had not given it a try until now. I did a bit of practice first (the trials can be partly seen at the side of the initial drawing) as they do need a light touch, but I think they work well, but I was careful not to put in too many and overdo the effect!

Monet can sleep peacefully in his resting place! No threat there!