Seed Heads

This weeks title at AVA was seed heads. We had a lovely variety of subjects among the group and I have a pot full of dried seed heads in the studio from which I  prepared a drawing and initial wash of some Chinese Lanterns and some dried Honesty.

In my pursuit of a bit more of a loose approach to my painting, I tried not to spend too much time on each element, just trying to keep the paint relatively fresh and to just make a painting sketch of the group.

By this time I was really pleased with the colour and shape of the Chinese Lanterns, but struggled much more with the twigs of Honesty..I did think of leaving it at this point and looking on it as a simple unfinished exercise, but I felt there were still too many unfinished shapes to justify this. I kept going in the hope that something reasonable would emerge at the end of the session.

I used a sepia, non-permanent fine liner to give a bit of definition to the shapes, and then washed clear water over the pen to cause it to bleed a little.....this makes it less of a harsh line.
I think maybe that all the honesty pods are a little too evenly painted, so I may paint out some lost edges, maybe using white acrylic onto a wet surface, but I will live with it for a few days before deciding if it is worth the effort. I also added a little Cobalt Teal Blue to the LH background on the advice of Peter, and I think he was right to suggest it, as the Teal Blue and Transluscent Orange go really well together.

As a postscript, I think I do find the mid painting more attractive!