SUNSHINE IN A BLUE VASE – WATERCOLOUR PAINTING

In my last blog I was bemoaning the difficulty I had with a painting. Well here is that beast, the one I almost tamed – perhaps we’ll call it a draw.

My wife had arranged some sunflowers in our big glass vase and I walked into the room as the sun was streaming in via a side window – so I had to at least give it a go.

The shadows intrigued me almost as much as the light flecked flowers, so my initial response was to do the painting in landscape format.

This version isnt complete, but shows my initial thoughts on the subject, along with the need to compress the vase for this format. As I painted this I started to think that perhaps I should just focus on the light on the flowers, so I started to paint a new version in portrait format, but threequarters of the way through the painting I realised that I had missed out one of the flowers.

So you brush yourself off, calm yourself down and start again and the result’s at the top.

Well, I’m not doing it again. Well, not for now… Though I have already corrected the out-of-kilter rim you see on top of the vase. The top and the bottom now belong to the same vessel.

Other floral paintings are available for sale on my website: grahammcquadefineart.com

A JUG OF FLOWERS IN A SUNNY WINDOW – WATERCOLOUR PAINTING

I presented this as a sketch in April and the sketch has been floating around in my studio since then. As an inveterate fiddler it was only time before I had another go. I wanted to break up and explain the background better and pay more attention to the reflected light and give more deference to my wife`s flower arranging. At least this time its not on the back of another painting , which for me, is a step forward.

Other floral painting are available on my website: grahammcquadefineart.com

FLOWERS IN THE WINDOW – WATERCOLOUR SKETCH

I have been lethargic of late and this was an attempt to break the cycle. I wanted to do a loose painting of a jugful of flowers my wife had gathered from the garden.

It started loose but became tighter as I played around with the lights and shadows. I think this approach works well with large blooms such as the camellias, but the daisies and other small flowers broke the rhythm and had me scratching around and tightening up.

Having completed the exercise I can see where improvements in technique can be made. Now, I just need to break the lethargy…

Other floral paintings can be found on my website: grahammcquadefineart.com

SPRING IN A VASE – WATERCOLOUR PAINTING

I bought some daffodils for the house and later, whilst cleaning, stood the vase on a worktop in front of a window and thought that it might make an uplifting painting.

I decided to crop the flowers to give the feeling of them bursting out and filling the frame. As usual I had a tussle with shading the yellows and I had hoped to get petal shapes in the background by creating some negative shapes, well, I tried, but I did manage to get a little movement there that, I think, adds to the energy.

Other floral paintings are available on my website: grahammcquadefineart.com

PEONIES IN A GLASS VASE – WATERCOLOUR PAINTING

I joined a new group who put on exhibitions in the area as working on your own limits the things you can do, particularly if you have to man the exhibition. In that case you need others to do a few days to allow you to get on with some painting. So for the next exhibition I thought I might do a few flower paintings and here is one. The exhibition is in a vacant shop in the centre of town and the group are celebrating the life of one of their members who has recently died of cancer.

The poster is below if you want to come along.

Other flower paintings are available on my website: grahammcquadefineart.com