Berber woman grinding flour

A Berber woman making flour
Arches  30 x 40 cm (n/a)

This is based on photo that I took a couple of years ago in the small village of Matmata in Tunisia. While this particular village has become quite popular and a sort of ethnographic show for tourists, the rest of the population in the area still has a very traditional way of life for real. Their houses are a kind of troglodyte dwellings with artificially made cave-like rooms dug around the perimeter of a large pit in the ground. Some part of Star Wars was shot in these dwellings.
I was surprised how much fun it was to paint the draped fabric of the clothing. Watercolor is perfect for that.

A practical task...

December is approaching and soon we'll be sending Christmas cards. This time I decided to make my own cards, which proved quite a job. I'm almost done now, so should have time for less repetitive painting soon...

Learning from Cembranelli

I remember one blogger saying that painting roses is addictive. True! A few days ago I decided to try Fabio Cembranelli's way of painting roses. I cut a discarded painting into four pieces and started my tests on the backs. Then I cut another piece of paper. Then continued on a block. It was hard to stop.
What did I learn? That it is not as simple as Fabio's videos make it seem. I wanted to figure out how he manages to lift color, leaving practically white paper, and giving the flowers this cotton candy soft look. This proved quite difficult. The paint must be exactly the right consistency and wetness, the brush must be absolutely clean and you have to stop yourself from repeating the stroke before cleaning the brush. Yes, masters make the hardest things look easy!
There is also another reason for all these roses. Today is the one year anniversary of my blog. So I devote the roses to all of you, my visitors and blogging friends. Thank you, for your support, encouragement and advices! I feel that I have made much progress over the past year, and a good deal of my motivation comes from you. Thank you!!!

End of the flower season

Arches, 38 x 28 cm

These were the last roses from my yard still spared from the frost, so I seized the chance to paint them from live. This week a few relatives and friends had birthdays. I didn't have the chance to congratulate them, so let this bouquet be for them. Happy birthday!

Честит Рожден Ден!

 

Chrysanthemums

I cut these flowers from the garden, while still just buds, in order to save them from the morning frost. Now they are happily blooming in a vase.

I thought that the second one turned into a big mess, but hubby liked it, so I decided to post it regardless.