Finishing the Flower challenge

Well, I made it to the end of the challenge to paint 20 flower pictures in 30 days. The thing about this challenge was, unlike other daily challenges, you could take a day or two off. This I did do and kind of lost track of where I was.
in my last post, I'd got up to painting 14 so, here is

15 of 20

Double & Fringed Tulips

I found this double tulip incredibly hard to paint, it probably looks more like a Camellia. It was a good exercise in mixing pinks, Michael Harding's 'Brilliant Pink' came into it's own here. The fringed tulips look a bit dull but I didn't want to overplay them. In hindsight, I should probably just have painted the double.

16 of 20

Lily flowering Viridiflora

MMM!  probably the less said about this the better.!  Roos Schuring uses Gouache for a lot of her flower paintings and they look amazing. so, I invested in a few tubes.. First, I tried to use them like oils, then I tried adding water but used too much. They dried quicker than I expected them to as well. The frustrating thing for me was that the lights dried darker and the darks dried lighter. Definitely need more practice at this.
 I was encouraged to read in Roos' blog that she did not dare post her first efforts - (maybe this shouldn't be here?)

17 of 20

Narcissus in gouache 2

Narcissus in gouache 1 

Not one to be defeated by a tube of bl***y paint, I thought i'd give it another try. Same subject, different backgrounds. Slightly more pleased , particularly with the one on the right - third try lucky?

18 of 20

Marigolds & Orange

Back to the oils - phew!!
I was very pleased with this little painting.  At least I knew what I was doing

19 of 20

Helebores

 Slightly cheating here as I'd already painted this previously. The thing is, I'd learnt so much since then that I repainted areas that I could see I could improve on. Much more pleased with it now

20 of 20

Lysianthus 

Not sure if I spelt that right but you know what I mean
Final painting. Playing with background and texture. The aim was to graduate the colour . I painted over an old painting that was on a textured board. To be honest I think I prefer a smoother surface


It's been an interesting experience for me as I don't consider myself to be a flower painter but, having said that, I do include them a lot in my still life paintings. I'm now continually eying up flowers in my garden with a view to painting them.
Although I didn't take the paid challenge (whereby you got feedback and help from Roos) I feel I've learned a lot. Certainly, looking on Instagram at the #30days20 I can see a massive improvement in everybody's work as the days have gone by. So a big thank you to Roos Schuring.
I'll be looking out for more challenges in the future to keep me on my toes

#30days20 A Flower Challenge

I'm still keeping up with the flower painting challenge set by Roos Schuring. I feel also that I am making progress, I certainly feel more confident when I start the painting.

No. 10 of 20

Single white daffodil  8"x 6"

Believe it or not white is one of the hardest things I find to paint, there are so many subtle colours if you look really hard. I used a pallet knife to create more interest in the background. It was painted over an old painting which has given more texture to the painting.

No. 11 of 20

White Tulips  12"x 12"

Still playing with white flowers I moved onto the tulips, I was more pleased with this. I love this little jug that I bought at a street market in France. I think now I am getting to grips with backgrounds too.

No. 12 of 20

WIP

Frank brought a load of tulips back from work, they were nearly past their best so I had to work quickly on this. I spent three hours getting the form and colour of the tulips down but now need to work on the back and foreground. I have put it to one side for now and hope to return to it with fresh eyes and enthusiasm.

No. 13 of 20

Red Parrot Tulips  12"x 12"

These beauties were fully blown and begging to be painted. Boy, did I enjoy this, I think it shows too. I completed it in just over an hour. I was concentrating more on the flower than the background, In hindsight , it could have been more considered. I still love it though

No. 14 of 20

Pheasant Eye & Bluebells  14"x10"

Another quickie, I set myself a strict time limit to avoid any fiddling. Painted over an old painting, I used dark glazes in the background to throw out the brilliance of the flower. I used large brushes for most of the picture to help keep it simple. I am particularly pleased with the glass. Old Holland Violet Grey was the perfect colour to use for the Bluebells, I used it again in the shadows of the narcissus. This was completed in less than an hour, I could have carried on but I'm pleased I didn't.

#30in20 Flower challenge

The best thing about this challenge is, that you don't have to paint every day, although I am trying to, I don't feel guilty when I spend a day gardening. Always a dilemma at this time of year as there is so much to do out there but at the same time, all those beautiful tulips and daffodils are calling to be painted.

5 of 20

Yellow Daffodils

Having painted this I have decided that it looks rather stiff, the foreground cloth is a bit severe too. I quite like the complimentary colour of the background. I will be revisiting this one once it has dried a bit

6 0f 20

Pink Camellia

I've been tempted every year to have a crack at painting my Camillia. It puts on a fantastic show every year but I always seem to find something else to do Ha ha. (coward)
I know I have to push myself so, here it is. I wanted to add the tube of Micheal Harding 'Brilliant Pink' for added interest.

7 of 20

Pink Camellia 2

Wanted to try this one again but with different background and different highlight colours

8 of 20

Pink Camellia 3

Got it!! It needed a darker background and softer edges. I like the way the light comes through he jar. I think I'll put this one away for now and try something different tomorrow

9 of 20

Pansies & Primroses

detail

Well, I said I'd try something different!  I stood in the garden for this. Painted over two days as the sun moved too quickly. I really enjoyed this. I did struggle with getting highlights on the pansies. The addition of white just killed the brilliance of the violet. I resorted to Kings Blue Light and Old Holland violet Grey.in the end. Still some experimenting to be done there me thinks.

Although I am still not entirely pleased with anything yet, I do feel that I have learned a lot. Also looking at all the work by the other artists taking part, I can see how many of them too have learned a lot.

This flower challenge is created by Roos Schuring
You can see all the other artists' work HERE