From life

Dying Sunflowers — Painting #100

| cathmary1030

Wow! I’ve actually made 100 paintings. This one was my first from life rather than a photo. And, man, these sunflowers are in bad shape! I bought them specifically to paint them, but I’ve been drawing rather than painting for the last week or so. (I did take some photos of them right when I bought them, though, so I can try again.)

I decide to use my new Green Earth paint for the stems and leaves (mixed with my go-to Chromium Oxide Green. I used Diarylide Yellow for the petals, and a mix of Burnt Umber Light w/ Carbon Black for the faces of the flowers.

Drawing A Rose

| cathmary1030

I had so much fun drawing this rose from life (“en plein air”) that I ended up drawing it a second time, in willow charcoal, and then using my NuPastels. This is the original drawing, done in graphite (2B) on ordinary drawing paper. (Pencil marks are terrible to view on the website).

Sometimes I get dissatisfied with the pastel landscapes I’m doing. There’s not a lot of drawing involved, and these fat sticks are irritating. I’m more and more inclined to draw and perhaps “color in” (as needed) with, say, watercolor.