daffodils 7 (finished)

                                11x15

Calling it finished.

I was considering adding more leaves, but I was afraid I'd end up doing it too randomly and messing it up.

Maybe in a few days I'll know where a leaf or leaves are needed, and Iif so, I might add them.

daffodil 7: wip

                               15x22

I wonder if it was a mistake to make two of the daffodils pink? Too late now!

The plan is to get the flowers painted, then add some blades of leaves to tie it all together ...

daffodils 6

                                7x9

The daffodils are still blooming!

Making some progress on the shadows, I think. The more successful ones here are light, transparent, palette grays.

Started working on a larger painting, 15x22. And decided to add some pink.

daffodils 5

                              10x14

Trying to vary my approach a little, I painted this without drawing if first.

A pale yellow flower is a good one to try this with.

daffodils 4

                                  10x14

Another painting of daffodils.

Beginning to look at shadows; usually,  especially with daffodils an other basically cone-shaped flowers, I fixate on the shape.

daffodils 3

                                11x15

More daffodils! Tried, this time, using a very watery triad--hansa, perm rose, and cerulean--in the petals to bring some variation.

I'm not sure this is done. Thinking of adding some leaves...

As it got dark last night, I noticed the lamplight was casting some dark shadows on the daffodils. So I thought I'd take another tack and start with the shadows. This is how far I got.

I can never decide on the color in the shadows! Is it a dark yellow? Bluish? Greenish? As I started to paint this I decided to stop trying to figure it out.

                                 10x14

daffodils 2

                               11x15

Daffodils: hard to get right (the yellows!) and hard to get wrong (the yellows!).

first daffodils

                                   8x10

The daffodils seem early this year, but I could be mistaken.

Daffodils are probably my favorite flower to paint, even though I struggle with yellows.

Maybe it's the shape, maybe it's the timing (spring!) ... I want to paint them everyday till they're done.

delaware bay

                                 10x14

Another painting I found abandoned half-finished on a block.

I added a few touches-- the clouds, the wet sand, the distant greens--and can call it finished, I think.

I toyed with the idea of trying to unify the grass clumps with a wash, but sometimes, imho, "fixes" don't really help: I might have gained something, but I'd lose whatever freshness the greens there have ... and to me that's not a good trade.

Case in point: also found the painting below, which is pretty high key. Thought I might be able to finish it with some darks, but I couldn't pull it off. Kept adding not-strong-enough dabs and the washes got tired.

                                  8x10

palm

                               10x14

Took some nice photos of the tops of palm trees while visiting my brother in Florida.

I like the photos because they have distinct light, dark and high-value shapes ... so I'm hoping if I paint them a couple of times maybe I'll be able to get a pleasing distillation.