Playing with watercolour

So here is my play time, I've had a few really lovely sketches of lotus flower and water lilies sitting around for ages. Then, as it happens, wake up and the painting bug gets ya... so to see how good my skills are I chose to see how good a lotus I could paint with out painting very much.

Here is how it progressed...

Light sketch an first layer of colour wash

When you want to jump into a painting the hardest thing can be to holding yourself back. Normally I just want to start laying the colour and keep going. But to paint a white flower you can not do that.

Second layer of colour and flower centre 

 The second layer of colour was really to work on the shading a little more before adding the blue background wash. Only after adding the background did i add the last bits of shading just to get the dark tones just right...

Watercolour Lotus flower

I am very happy with how this painting turned out. The background is very unique, the paper I used was old and I think it must have got dramp. So when I came to paint you could see each brush stroke and it layered in different tones.

I think it works, even if it's just for a bit of fun.

Night Time Creation: sketch

Night time creation: crescent moon

This is what you can come up with when the Internet crashes on you and you find a sketch book of little doodles.

I really like this image, she grabbed me and enchanted me more and more as she come into reality. So for my next painting she is going to be my top one, and as I've been itching to play in oil paint again, that is what she shall be created with.

Which is great as it means I can have more than one image on the go.

Nature in my Heart - Honey Dew

Honey Dew - created in March 2013

The Story of Princesses Honey Dew and the thoughtful Bees

"Honey Dew was the youngest Bee princess of the hive, her role was to watch over the worker bees and look after the honey combs.

Honey Dew loved looking after the worker bees, she took great care and enjoyment of her tasks everyday, but she had a dream, a wish. She longed to see the flowers from which the beautiful honey was made.

She knew the smell of each flower which the bees got the nectar from, but she would sit, at times, and wonder what they looked like. What shapes were they? did they have different colours or were they even multi coloured.

Honey Dew even wondered about leaving the hive to see what a flower looked like, but, she would never leave the hive. It was forbidden for her to do so, and she did not want to risk the safety of her beloved bees.

Seeing their beloved princess spend so many hours wondering and pondering on this matter, a group of worker bees decided to put her mind to rest. Carefully they held a flower as another cut it's stem, gentle they carried the flower back to the hive where the princess was busy looking over the new honey combs.

Honey Dew was in awe of the flower, which the bees placed so carefully into her palm. It was more beautiful than she had dreamed, with petals of soft they were like the fine silk webs of a spider's web. She smelled to flower, as was whisked away from the honey filled hive to a place of green leaves, fresh air and the hum from the buzzing bees.

Honey Dew thanked the bees for their thoughtful nature and gentle kindness, in this very special gift. Which for the bees as they were so small, had taken them so long to get to her, and had tried them out so. She kissed each one which renewed the strength and off they went with a bright singing Hummmmmmmmm!"