Native Hibiscus

This is from one of our native hibiscus trees in the back yard.  I loved this stage the flower was in as it was opening up. 

This one took 31 layers to complete.  I was playing with different brushes to get a watercolor effect.

Brushes/Techniques used:

Drag and drop base colors (flower and leaves)

MWC Water Wash #8 brush for texture

MWC Splatter Wash #8 brush for texture

Darks using Gouache brush tool and blending with layer set on multiply to maintain texture

Lights using Gouache brush and blending

Bee and branch using Gouache brush set at lowest size setting

 

Another Gift - From Madison and Jonathan

The kids made a trip to West Va last week and on their way back, they picked this little gift up for me.  They know I love lilies and hummingbirds and couldn't pass it up.

And of course I had to draw it.  This one presented quite a challenge working with glass, reflections, and shadow.  It took 22 layers to complete this building the colors and values up.

 

Gifts from the Kids

When the kids gift me with trinkets and whatnot, I love to sketch them.  These are from last month I hadn't posted yet.  

Seems I'm getting a bit lazy these days blogging my work.....LOL.  I really need to get back in the habit of blogging as it is a means of a personal art diary for myself and to print for the family.

This first trinket is one that Travis got me years ago from Universal Studios here in Florida.  This first one is a Family statue representing parents and three kids.  I decided to draw it and then use ivy to decorate it.

Mother's Day gift (2024) from Madison.  Again using ivy plus flowers to decorate the trinket that has a significant meaning to Madison.

This next one is a plant and water vase from Madison and Jonathan they picked up on one of their trips to Orlando.