IT'S AUTUMN YELLOW IN ZINNIAVILLE

Day 6

of

3 0   P A I N T I N G S   I N   3 0   D A Y S

Autumn Yellow vs. Summer Yellow

In the summertime the yellows in my garden look so bright and sunny.  They almost have a white shimmer to them as the sun beats down and sees its reflection.

But yellow just looks different in the fall.  As the leaves on our ash trees start to turn and then drop, the skeleton of the tree begins to show.  The black outline of its shape makes a stark contrast to the yellow of the leaves giving them a beautiful and rich glow.  

So, today's zinnia is a salute to the end of summer in anticipation of the appearance of the rich tones of autumn.  As the nights get longer and cooler, and the chlorophyll is blocked from the leaves, autumn yellow finally gets its chance to shine.

Today, I'm just posting a work in progress.  We had a full day with just a little time in the evening to work on today's painting for the 30 in 30 Challenge.   

So for now . . . meet "Autumn Yellow" in her birthday suit!

And, wearing a few bare essentials . . .

Looking forward to making her presentable tomorrow!

Thanks for looking!

-Nan

"FRESH CUT" - DAY 2 of 30 PAINTINGS IN 30 DAYS

Day 2 of 

30 PAINTINGS IN 30 DAYS 

It was one of those beautiful, end-of-summer days - sunny and just enough humidity to make it still feel like summer.  What better place to spend a portion of the day than in my art room with the sun and breeze pouring in the open windows!

This jumble of paper, paints, brushes, and pens led to the petite 5 x 5 inch watercolor/pen/ink I have named, "FRESH CUT."   I have used 300# Arches watercolor paper which is a thick, 100% cotton fiber paper mouldmade in France.   The watercolors used are Sennelier, also made in France and with an increased amount of honey for luminous, lightfast color.  

This flower would be an enchanting addition to your cottage garden.   It's a zinnia that is heavy on the petals and deep in the rosy-reds, and a little of the orange-reds on the petal tips.

"FRESH CUT"

5 x 5 inches

(ready for your mat and frame)

SOLD!

There is a little VIDEO showing the drawing and painting of "Fresh Cut" on my Facebook page, I hope you'll check it out by clicking the photo below!  While you're there, please click the "like" button so you can follow along on future Facebook posts for my "You Could Make That" blog.

"Fresh Cut" is available here:

Thanks for looking!

-Nan

"STANDING TALL" - DAY 1 of 30 PAINTINGS IN 30 DAYS

This is the first day of the 

30 PAINTINGS IN 30 DAYS CHALLENGE

by California artist,  Leslie Saeta.

I'm starting out with paintings of my garden flowers - that should keep me busy for at least a week!  This is a "Golden Yellow Supreme" zinnia - they grow 3-5 feet tall and bloom until the first frost!  Perfect and long-lasting in bouquets, zinnias are one of my favorite flowers.  

"STANDING TALL"

6 x 6 inch watercolor on Ampersand Aquabord

(easel included)

The first painting of the challenge is done on Aquabord by Ampersand.  This is a new product for me and quite different than painting on watercolor paper.

(Some details about Aquabord: "Museum Series Aquabord™ is an acid-free textured clay surface that absorbs watercolors like a fine paper. Colors retain their purity and vibrancy in a way that even the finest of watercolor papers can never match. Archival, eco-friendly and made in the USA.")

Thanks for looking!

-Nan

HE LOVES ME, HE LOVES ME NOT

The Sun Cherry Zinnia.  

A real stunner in the world of zinnias.  Brilliant color with long-ish petals that stand up well while allowing a few to gracefully "droop" to add artistic flair to this flower in a bouquet. 

This one, with its two drooping petals, reminds me of the whimsical children's game, "He loves me, he loves me not", as illustrated in this old engraving:

"The Decision of the Flower" (1820) 

by Henry Moses

I'm loving the process of working on pen, ink, and watercolor illustrations.  From the outlining of each petal -

  

to the finished drawing -

 . . . to the process of adding color.  It's picky, time-consuming, and detailed drawing, but I love seeing it all come together!

These 8 x 10 inch original watercolor is available in my Etsy shop.  (fits perfectly in an 11 x 14 inch frame) It will arrive safely on your doorstep matted, backed, creatively packaged, and ready for framing in no time!

Other pen/ink/watercolor flowers in my shop:

Or, purchase a commission of your own favorite below:

Thanks for looking!

-Nan

LLOYD II & GETTING READY TO PAINT

Guess who's going to Boston?  Lloyd II will be leaving my Etsy shop and heading out tomorrow morning.  He is a little apprehensive and it shows, but he'll be fine.  So I spent part of the day getting him ready to go. 

Au revoir, Lloyd! 

Then I picked up a couple new canvases and got ready to paint by taking some photos of flowers from my garden.  Even more than the flowers, I'm looking forward to the challenge of painting the jar of water.  These are in an empty mayonnaise jar.  I love the distortion of the stems underwater, and the little changes in color from above, to surface, to under the water.  We'll see how that goes . . .

 A photo taken from above allows you to see so much more of the water and an interesting view of the stems.  That, along with the sparkle of the glass and the ridges around the rim should be pretty challenging!

 There are lots of different blues, grays, and greens in that water. 

 And so much beautiful detail in these flowers!

I like to crop out individual flowers in different positions and stages of opening so I can get a close-up view of all the colors and shadows.  The photo below really shows good detail of the dark green, overlapping bracts zinnias have, under the flower head.

Zinnias have little "disk" flowers in the center, and "ray" petals around the outside.  To make it realistic it all has to be there.

My canvas for this is large - 24" x 30" - so the flowers are going to be WAY bigger than life!

And just one photo of a large part of my garden.

Just because.

 So, tomorrow will be a painting day.

All.

Day.

Long.

Can't wait!