"Immortality"

Iris, arches 30 x 40 cm

My iris "Immortality" happily blooming in September

There is an iris in full bloom in my garden. When I planted it I knew that it is a re-bloomer and comes back in the fall, but I didn't expect that it will be blooming through August and September and will keep coming up with new flowering stems again and again. This is definitely a winner in my search for long blooming perennials. And as one doesn't get many chances to paint irises in the fall, here it is. I didn't plan well the background and am not very happy with how it turned out, but you get the idea that I was  after strong contrast.

Foliage

Foliage 1, 30 x 23 cm

Foliage 2, 25 x 18 cm

A couple of studies of cascading foliage, to play with greens and with different shapes. Although I did them without pencil and much preparation, once I got to the actual leaf shapes the looseness started to disappear. Still, I like some parts and areas of these watercolors, and I'm learning stuff from doing them.

Morning Glories

Morning Glory, 24 x 43 cm

These morning glories flower abundantly now and I love their sky-blue color...

Roses

Roses 2, 43 x 24 cm

Roses 1, 23 x 33 cm

I needed some inspiration to start painting after a couple of weeks break and I found it in Jean Haines' roses. So I cut a few roses from the garden and rolled up my sleeves...

Eggshells

Eggshells study 1, 33 x 13 cm

Eggshells study 2, 13 x 33 cm

These studies were inspired by Rita's and Judy's paintings of broken eggs for the Daily Paintworks challenge. For now I am sticking to just eggshells. I wanted to explore (again) the challenge of painting white rounded objects on white background. I wish I could paint an eggshell with a couple of brushstrokes, but I find it hard to let the edges be, I keep softening them and fussing and fiddling... but it was still much fun!

Sunflowers

Sunflowers, watercolor on arches paper, 40 x 30 cm

 

Summer is approaching its end. The greens outside are changing towards the yellow spectrum and soon the trees will start changing into their spectacular autumn costumes. The season of bright warm colors is coming and I feel the need to paint flowers again. I couldn't resist buying a bunch of sunflowers yesterday, and then, of course, they had to be painted...