Back to Dahlia again, I guess I can't stay away for long... ;)
This beauty looked like it had had paint thrown at it - it was so special. I found the photo I had snapped in Ballycastle garden centre way back last year, and I was so glad to revisit it!
Day 26: #yourdailypetal
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There's something incredible majestic and other-worldly about giant bearded Iris... this one, with it's soft blush tones and hot orange middle, pretty much won my heart.
Day 25: #yourdailypetal
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Another breathtaking Japanese Ranunculus (they really know how to make 'em, don't they?)... so enjoyed this one - a big contrast between the sharp chartreuse and the hot pink ruffles. Delish.
Day 24: #yourdailypetal
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This was a flashback for the daily petal series... to the centre-piece I painted for our Wedding! I do these to commission for Brides & Grooms and will include your Wedding Flowers... so lovely to have forever after the big day has gone and the flowers have faded.
Day 23: #yourdailypetal
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Nasturtium are just the best, aren't they? So fast growing (I have some seeds going MAD right now), such joyful little flowers, beautiful leaves like umbrellas that catch rain-drops like it's their job... AND you can eat them. Maybe they really are the best flower ever, if much over-looked? I love using them in arrangements, such an unexpected element...
Day 22: #yourdailypetal
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Continuing on the yellow kick, I revisited one of my favourites... the Cosmos. I've drawn this many times before, namely for our Cosmo Wallpaper & Fabric line, but enjoyed this just as much as ever.
Day 21: #yourdailypetal
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I really enjoyed the change of pace with this Forsythia branch after three days of blousey blooms, and really love the end image after I styled it on the gorgeous yellow Irish linen... it was actually very simply painted, hardly any additional colour other than the yellow in two intensities, sometimes simple is best!
Day 20 (feels momentous!): #yourdailypetal
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It's a hat-trick! Three in a row, and not even beginning to tire of the Dahlia... but you might be, so I promise to paint something else next ;)
Day 19: #yourdailypetal
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You see, Dahlia a Day it is! ;)
This one (a karma Dahlia) is from the deep green flat lay in my portfolio... couldn't resist drawing that one!
Day 18: #yourdailypetal
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I seriously never tire of Dahlia's. There are so many varieties, shapes, petal formations and colours to delve in to... I could probably do a 'Dahlia a Day' series without too much trouble!
Anway, this was day 17: #yourdailypetal
Nice to work on something with lots of red, as it's not my usual palette... love it here though with hot pink and apricot.
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Day 16: #yourdailypetal is a little Camellia flower... had some fun painting this one in my new Moleskin watercolour sketchbook on a work-from-home day!
Camellia's are out everywhere right now, such a riot of colour, and so, so beautiful...
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This one - a Japanese ranunculus (originally shared by the wonderfully talented Amy Merrick) - is my favourite so far. I SO, so enjoyed playing with the rhubarb and custard tones of the petals, the crinkles, the beautiful centre - all the detail. This is the kind of flower that makes you all misty eyed, and pushes you down the path of marvelling at the mysteries of the universe, asking yourself 'is there a God?' (how can there not be when something is this amazing?!), etc... it's THAT special.
Hope you think so, too.
#day 15: #yourdailypetal
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I so enjoyed the first foxglove, that I couldn't resist doing another one... albeit much smaller, and a faster study. Quite like how this one is all about being PINK and is not remotely apologetic about it ;)
Day 14: #yourdailypetal
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Big fan of succulents over here! I have an insane number of them growing on my kitchen window-sill, their chicks laid out in rows growing the tiniest of miniature succulents from each leaf... more, and more, and more. And they're SO easy, what's not to love?
Day 13: #yourdailypetal
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How could you not love a Hellebore? The very first flowers to usher us from Winter in to Spring, so hardy against the frost and snow, and yet giving us a burst of colour, texture and beauty... a promise of what is to come. They are pretty high on my favourites list (yes, it's quite long!) and I so enjoyed painting these ones!
Day 12: #yourdailypetal
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These cowslips have been one of my favourites to paint so far... so delicate and cute, with their little nodding heads!
Day 11: #yourdailypetal
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Hello! Day 9 of #yourpetaladay
A wild and free Agapanthus in glorious purples and blues- playing with my watercolour mop brush, and the contrast between loose colour and detailed, monochrome pen work.
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Hello! Day eight of #yourdailypetal are these cheery wee Anemones!
Really enjoyed this colour palette of pinky purples, and the super dark navy blue centres. They are reasonably playful studies, and I love the way the watercolour pools at the edges of the brush-strokes...
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I drew these stunning Dahlia's once before, but only in pen and ink - I photographed them a few summers ago at the Botanic Gardens in Belfast and fell in love with their hot orange colour, wavy and wany petals and just how gorgeous they were! It was such a treat to revisit this subject, but this time in colour...
Dahlia's are right up there as one of my favourite blooms, so it's nice to spend some time with these as peak season is still some way off!
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I used this foxglove as the promo image for the #yourdailypetal series... thinking I was going to do some more work to it. But sometimes, you just have to leave things as they are, and they're finished before your mind and your hands are ready to stop. I'm glad I took a break on this one, as I love her exactly as she is!
Those beautiful shades of pink, (warmly advancing and coolly receding), have my heart. Hard to beat a foxglove, you know.
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