Crowning Glory

The next time I am painting on a deadline, someone please remind me that A. Painting on a deadline is a dumb idea to start with B. Don't choose something that is a big, fat experiment at those times and C. Conducting said experiment on a piece of paper that cost $50.00 will add a whole lot of pressure to an already difficult week!

That said, thankfully the painting is finished and it worked and I survived.  I not only survived, I have to admit I learned a whole lot from the process.  Actually, if we aren't learning and growing, are we living?  Really living?  Even though I am about to graduate after 4 1/2 years of hard work, I hope I never stop learning.  When I do stop, you'll know I'm gone.

With the mask removed from the fruit areas, I could finally begin to see what I had.  Up to that point, I could only hope this would work like I'd planned.  

Each fruit shape needed shadows, the individual petals highlighted and the hooked thorns detailed.  Just those tiny bits of color changed the character of the whole thing.

 

Crowning Glory, Watercolor on 300 lb. paper, 30" x 42.5"

I love painting.  I love looking at, making and reading about paintings. The smell of paints and a big, clean surface are like magnets to me.  However, it's time to put the brushes away for a couple of weeks and get my last, and of course, biggest research papers done so I can graduate.  One last, big push! See you soon.