Sunday, March 08, 2009

stargazers


I picked up some stargazer lilies at the market yesterday morning, but was too intimidated to paint them. So yesterday went by with no painting.
This afternoon I thought I should try to get past this block with a drawing. I remembered reading in a book about painting flowers that you should really study the flower first: note the width of the stems and shapes of the leaves and how they're attached to the stem ... so I worked on noticing those things in the sketch above. I was a great icebreaker.
And I moved on to the first of what I hope will be a week of stargazer lily paintings.

(10x13)
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16 comments:

debwardart said...

Very nice - if you are starting the week with a lily painting this good, can't wait to see the last one for the week, it will be great!

Don said...

I think intimidation is over-rated! Wow, that is really nice! You really captured the flower's beauty, (as always!! BTW)

Anonymous said...

the painting turned out very pretty. i also think that the sketch is lovely just as it is.

Barbara Muir said...

Hi Laura,

I agree with Nancy I like both the painting and the sketch. I'm also happy to know the name of those lilies -- so beautiful. You've captured them perfectly. A superb painting. You have no need to be intimidated -- you are a marvellous painter.

Barbara

Sharon said...

Laura, I think the painting is quite beautiful. The time you spent "observing" paid off!

cathyswatercolors said...

Hi Laura, I always love the way you sketch. The painting is lovely. As far as getting to know the flower, for a few paintings I was tracing the subject and found that when I went to paint I really didn't have a connection to the lines and had difficulty painting the subject. Yet when I drew the subject on my own it was much more familiar to me and easier to paint.

Sandy Maudlin said...

YUM! I can almost smell them already. Have a great week painting them - even on YUPO!???!

A Brush with Color said...

Wow, Laura! These are both beautiful! It sure must pay to really observe. You did a marvelous job on these: the drawing and the painting. That is probably my favorite lily painting ever.

artslice said...

Ahh, what a lovely drawing! These are one of my favorite flowers... for sentimental reasons :)

"JeanneG" said...

You did a very good job. Lovely flower.

caseytoussaint said...

You really did a beautiful job on this - thanks for bringing a bit of Spring to my computer!

Jennifer Lawson said...

Wow, lovely, Laura. When I saw your beautiful stargazer it made me want to run out and buy some to paint. But, it's snowing (again) and I have to pack, so I will just appreciate yours. Beautiful.

supplies overflowing! said...

wow- I thought your drawing was well done. Too bad you didn't see my reaction when I looked at the painting! I did a double take! You always do very nice work, but this time in addition to doing a nice painting, it looked like you REALLY KNEW the flower. gee- I don't know if this is coming out the way I meant it...

Sherry Pierce Thurner said...

Ummm, those stargazers smell so sweet, and the colors are so rich. It had to be wonderful looking at them closely, and getting to know and understand them. As charming as the color work is, I really like the black and white sketch.

christine said...

These are beautiful lilies! I love the speckles and dots in the open blossom.

Teresa said...

This is fabulous!! I love it. Intimidated? Ha! You triumphed!