I love painting fresh flowers from my garden. Usually I begin by drawing them from life, but I also take numerous photographs from different points of view and lighting. The initial drawing is blocked in — just placement lines indicating the composition. By using just plain water, I define the petal shapes. Lots of water and pigment is dropped into the puddles. Working wet-in-wet allows for soft shapes, contrasting with the hard edges. While I work, the elements and principles are the foundation of my design. But I will also allow for surprises by flooding the paper with water, adding marks in crayon, spattering the paint, blotting to soften shapes, or scrubbing out where it needs it.

All shapes are connected and I combine shapes with complementary colors — warm and cool pigments. I prefer Daniel Smith paints, but I also have Winsor Newton, Holbein, QOR and others. Occasionally I will use a watercolor medium, Aquapasto, to control some of the aggressive colors from running into areas I prefer to stay “quiet.”  I always have more than one painting in progress to allow them to dry naturally, but sometimes I use a hair dryer to speed up the process.