"Honeysuckles Sketch", 5"x8", Watercolor on Moleskin Watercolor Sketchbook
After yesterday's rain, all flowers seem to thrive in sunlight today. I went out and took loads of reference photos of Lilies --- white, off-which, light flesh color, bright cool and warm yellow, burning orange and dark brown madder alizarin ones. It is officially the Lily season here now, and I am surprised I have never notices there are so many different colored Lilies! Drawing and painting really open your eyes to tiny treasures of life, make you appreciate and enjoy to the maximum extent.
The air is full of the pleasent scent from Honeysuckles near my house. They are everywhere -- near the fency, around the old trees and even extending to my balcony! I love the sweet but subtle aroma. It is the definition of a full summer for me since childhood. We use to pick the sliver and gold flowers and season them in a can of honey, which is later used to make cold tea. It is supposed to cool down the heat accumulated in the body due to the fierce summer, and I loved it! One of the many myths of acient Chinese herb medicine... I went to the backyard and sketched some honeysuckles today, and was totally suprised by the elegant curvatures of the pedal of these tiny flowers. They are joyfully dancing in the light breeze beneath the leaf shadows.
The sketch is done on a 5"x8" moleskin watercolor sketchbook. I like how the paper reacted after the first wash. It is a little difficult to control wet-in-wet effect on this sketchbook paper, since it has slightly less tooth compared to most cold-pressed watercolor paper. But the random texture created by dropping water into a still-damp wash is really amazing on this paper. It is easy to take on site and dries relatively fast, which makes it a really good choice for sketching with watercolor outdoors. Off to sketch more, and maybe will post them tonight...
The air is full of the pleasent scent from Honeysuckles near my house. They are everywhere -- near the fency, around the old trees and even extending to my balcony! I love the sweet but subtle aroma. It is the definition of a full summer for me since childhood. We use to pick the sliver and gold flowers and season them in a can of honey, which is later used to make cold tea. It is supposed to cool down the heat accumulated in the body due to the fierce summer, and I loved it! One of the many myths of acient Chinese herb medicine... I went to the backyard and sketched some honeysuckles today, and was totally suprised by the elegant curvatures of the pedal of these tiny flowers. They are joyfully dancing in the light breeze beneath the leaf shadows.
The sketch is done on a 5"x8" moleskin watercolor sketchbook. I like how the paper reacted after the first wash. It is a little difficult to control wet-in-wet effect on this sketchbook paper, since it has slightly less tooth compared to most cold-pressed watercolor paper. But the random texture created by dropping water into a still-damp wash is really amazing on this paper. It is easy to take on site and dries relatively fast, which makes it a really good choice for sketching with watercolor outdoors. Off to sketch more, and maybe will post them tonight...
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1 comment:
Hi,
I have linked my blog to yours and am hoping you will do some more posts. I imagine you have been busy with school. Though it has been about 40 years since I was in graduate school, I remember well the stresses. My blog is: http://downthenaturetrail.blogspot.com/
I also have a different career than art but love to draw and paint as a hobby. You are so talented; keep your art going if you can, it provides livelong enjoyment.
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