Bird of Paradise (Strelitzia reginae) - with step-by-step progress images

Some time ago I had another go to this beautiful flower. It is the strange combination of colors (including orange, blue, purple, green and yellow) and the multi-directional distribution of its parts that attracts me very much. Again, the reference photo is from the WDE event on WetCanvas, and I would like to express my gratitude to Bonnie for sharing the photo of this beautiful flower with us.

I started with a small sketch, which doesn't say much, but I was only looking to figure out the crop (the reference photo was much larger, including much more foliage) and the major shapes to include in my painting.

In the next step I had the drawing of the selected crop and major elements done on the watercolor paper (10x7 inches, Waterford 140 CP). As you will notice, I did a few changes to the background elements when transferred the drawing, and I eliminated some of the initial background elements.

Then started the color washes, with the background and the most far green leaf. The basic watercolor paints used for this painting are a selection from W&N (French Ultramarine, Cobalt Blue, Cadmium Red, Hooker Green, Aureolin), Daniel Smith (Hansa Yellow Deep, Quinacridone Magenta).

The next step was dedicated to establish the final background color, a rather cool green grey, which would contrast with the warm color of the Strelitzia petals. In addition, I worked the far leaf into detail, and worked the first wash on the left leaf.

I added another wash to the left leaf and the first washes to the flower elements, starting with the most far ones or the ones that do not overlap.

Then I finished the left leaf, and further worked on the flower.

The pre-final step, where the flower petals are worked into detail:

And the last step was to add some shadows from the flower on the leafs, to push more the flower:

I had a lot of fun painting this beautiful flower, and I hope you enjoyed the journey too!

Morning Ride - the cyclist with the red backpack

Scatty, our WDE host for the 14th of March, posted a lovely reference photo of two cyclists riding in the (I suppose) morning sunshine. As I wanted to practice more the figure painting, I was attracted by the body posture of the cyclists, and decided to have a go to only one of them, trying to also accentuate the long morning shadows. I am happy with some parts of this painting, and not so happy with some other, but this is what practice is supposed to do - help you identify the parts that need more thought next time and approach it differently, after doing some home-work on reading and studying other paintings, etc.
This is done with W&N and Daniel Smith watercolors on Waterford 140 lb CP paper. The size is approximately 7x10 inches.

Heavy Load - oranges on a branch, step-by-step progress demonstration

One of the best things about the Mediterranean life-style are the healthy dietary habits for which you do not have to make any effort - they are just the usual way the life goes on! My childhood Christmas were connected with the taste and smell of the oranges, as this fruit was not common to find in Romania back in the 80's but just as a very special treat (at least for children living in small villages, as I did). Since I moved to Greece, oranges and fresh orange juice are an every-day treat, and I feel blessed to be able to offer this fantastic source of vitamins and health to my son every single day of the year!
Few weeks ago I took a photo of some oranges in one of the trees on my street, to share it with my fellows on WetCanvas, in the Weekend Drawing Event (WDE) which I hosted on the March 7. Here is the original photo:

This photo is free of copyright to be used for derived artistic works. If you would like to have a better resolution copy, look for it on WetCanvas or send me an e-mail.
I was sure I will paint this one myself, and I thought I would share here the stages I followed to get my painting done. It might be helpful for beginner fellows to see how a watercolor painting is done in steps - I always like to check such tutorials and demonstration, to understand the technique and steps followed by professional artists.
At first I checked carefully the reference photo to decide which composition would work best for my intent, and I decided I would go with a crop focused on the bottom half and middle part, where there is a branch with lots of oranges glowing in the spring sunshine. I also selected the size of the paper (app. 7x10 inches, Arches 140lb CP) and the basic palette: Cobalt Blue, French Ultramarine Blue, Hooker Green, Hansa Yellow Deep, Quinacridone Magenta, Burnt Sienna,  Payne's Gray. Some bits of other colors might have been added here and there.
In the first step I did a drawing of the selected composition on paper and I started to layer the paints from the most far (sky background) and some middle tones of the leaves, to give me the basic starting point.

In the following step I worked one by one the further back leaves and oranges, and the painting started to show already. Also, I noticed that something was missing in my drawing - the continuation of the branch in the upper left corner, and I corrected this, otherwise the oranges would be floating in the sky.

The following step was dedicated to work a major part of the oranges and some of the leaves that were not overlapping with the oranges.

The last to paint were the bottom orange, the one with the highest contrasts (sunshine versus shadow) the the most close to the viewer leaves (foreground).

Update: after posting this painting in the Watercolor forum on WetCanvas, I was advised to further work on the shadows, as they do not "read" very well. Which I did, trying not to overwork it however, and here is the updated painting:

I wish every child could enjoy one of these fantastic fruits every day!

The autumn sky - light patches passing through the heavy clouds

I was inspired for this painting by a photo shared by our host at WDE February 28 at WetCanvas, it reminded me of the autumn heavy rains, but with the clear sky showing in some places and throwing lovely light patches on the green-yellow-brownish fields. The painting has a size of approximately 14x10 inches, and it is done with W&N and Daniel Smith watercolors on Arches 140 lb CP paper.

Hells Gate Lighthouse

I wish I had the resources, both in time and money, to visit the so many places on my "to go" list! Australia, including the Tasmania of my childhood stories, are among these places, and when I saw this photo posted by Ros (our host for the February 28 WDE on WetCanvas) I save it immediately. Somehow it inspired me for a completely different format, first time that I try this panorama like sizes, but I am quite happy with my decision. I hope this painting travels you as much as does with me when I look at it! The size is approximately 14x7.5 inches, and it is done with W&N and Daniel Smith watercolors on Arches 140 lb CP paper.

Spring floral ACEOs

Well, as you see I am not easily losing my courage, and definitely I am not going to quit the game! As you might have noticed I love flowers and nature, and every walk outside is an opportunity to find hundreds of inspiration sources, just as these little flowers that I cannot pass near by without keeping their image in my mind or taking a photo of them! I hope you like them better than the previous one! LOL!
Both are ACEO size (2.5x3.5 inches) and are done with Winsor & Newton and American Journey watercolors on Fabriano 140 lb Rough paper.

The failure is part of the learning

Yep, that is very much true! I am looking to some other fellows blogs from time to time, and I can only see their "best" over there, they never mention the paintings they are not happy with, or they consider a failure. But I am sure they also experience frustration of the painting not coming out as they wished. Since I am not a well "established" artist, I am not shame to admit that I do not like many of my paintings, as my initial intent was to get something completely different. Previous weekend, in the village, while my boy was asleep I was looking to some Spring photos I took with my tablet outdoor and had the idea to have it a go to some little ACEO flowers without preliminary sketches, and the result, especially for one of them was a real disaster. LOL - that is part of the learning too! Of course, do not bother to comment on this one!

Hosting a WDE (Weekend Drawing Event) on Wet Canvas

This weekend I was given the opportunity and honor to host a Weekend Drawing Event (WDE) on WetCanvas, and I was so happy to share some of the Spring photos that I have mostly taken during the last two months. Just in case you are not a member, or you were not aware of the WDE events and would like to have a look at what all this is about, just click on the link above. It will take you to the thread with the 16+1 photos that I have shared, and are all copyright free to be used for any derivative artwork you would like to make, either digital or traditional. Once you get there, I am sure you will get addicted to these events, as they travel you all over the world. I am posting here only the invitation photo of an almond blossom, and I hope it will convince you to join us on WetCanvas!