Vitamin C with your Tea!

This mug was another charity shop find, two of them actually, they are lovely to drink from, the handles so comfortable to hold - I am not going to sell them too much or the person who donated them might see this blog and want them back!!

I started this painting last weekend and felt I had to let it dry before I could work on the complicated design on the mug. It is an 8" square this time, a little larger - I am like someone giving up smoking, but in reverse - as they give up from 10 a day to 5 a day, I am moving up from 6" square to 8" square paintings............ where will I stop, no one knows, not even me!

Cerise Hyacinth

I love the colour of this hyacinth, it is going over unfortunately, explaining why the flower stem has shrunken slightly.

Liz came over to paint with me yesterday afternoon after my class had finished. I started to paint the flower straight onto the board - realising after nearly an hour that my sizing for the board was completely out! I always use a viewfinder to place my still life within my board - I was too busy talking to Liz! She got on with her piece really well - I wiped mine!
This morning after working with my frames I had another try, viewfinder in hand! This is the result.

Life Drawing

During this season's life drawing sessions, my efforts have been pretty mixed. The paper wouldn't take the paint and water quite like my old sketch pad - I bought 3 of the new ones - clever, eh? Oh well, I will just have to use my old pencil!! This is one from this week, which I am happy with.

I used my spiral watercolour pad and watered down cheap black ink. I have used this ink many times last term and before, I have to say I love working with it. £2.99 for a big bottle. My new acrylic inks are so vibrant I hesitate to try them! I will have to step it up here - she who dares and all that!

White on White

This painting started as a white on white exercise, meaning the whole thing would be pretty much bleached out - I know, I kind of lost the white element along the way but I still like how it turned out!

For once the flowers are from MY garden! I held my class this morning and we discussed this painting - the background was then, a lot darker and the general opinion was that you wouldn't be able to see the snowdrops if the back ground was lighter!
After class, still on this white on white theme, I decided to adjust the background, making it much lighter - the snowdrops just popped, not just the flowers but the jug of flowers came alive.
I will continue to try to produce an authentic white on white work, but for now, I am happy with the end result today, though it may not be exactly as planned!

Darling Clementine

I set up this little still life for my Friday morning class and decided I would have a go at it myself once everyone had gone home! Believe it or not I have had these clementines with leaves since before Christmas, sitting in my studio quietly waiting to be used in a setup!

The little tinted glass is so light I could breathe on it and blow it over. I have Avril at the local charity shop to thank for that one and also another 2 tiny orange glasses I have in another still life set up I am struggling with today! It may not see the blog page.. so don't hold your breath for that one!

Rococo Parrots

Luckily I was given these beautiful Rococo Parrot tulips yesterday afternoon, before they went over - just what I needed as I have been suffering from withdrawal symptoms since completing the 30 in 30 challenge!

I lost a few of the heads on moving the jug into and out of the car unfortunately so tried not to move them much once I got them into the studio! If I can get another day out of them, I will try another angle and composition tomorrow. They are just the loveliest tulips from, when the heads are tightly closed, to as you see them now.