Leafy Watercolours Part III

Hello all, and I hope you are all well.  Thanks so much for dropping in today.  I haven't been hopping round much in the last few days as my brain has already turned to making packing lists (especially to trying to decide what goes in the travelling craft stash!).  But I should have some time this weekend before I start the actual physical packing, so I hope to be round soon to see what you've been up to.

In the meantime, one thing I have been making time for is my daily watercolouring for World Watercolour Month, so I'm back with the next batch 17 - 24.  As regulars know, I haven't been following the official prompts.  I set myself my own challenge to create some leaf studies daily.

I knew my challenge would have to be something I wanted to do, rather than panicking over a prompt which might not inspire me.  It's the daily practice as much as anything else that I wanted to develop... it's now part of my morning routine along with feeding the birds, watering the plants, tidying the kitchen and doing my Czech lesson (with coffee - vital part of the routine!).


This week, I've been enjoying the flow of pigment in water which has been happening around the edges...


... and the grassy energy of some of the undergrowth at the foot of the paintings almost as much as the leaves themselves.  And why not?

(If you want to know about the paper/paints I'm using for my July leafy watercolours they're all listed in Part I of these updates, Leafy Watercolours.  You can, of course, catch up with Leafy Watercolours Part II if you missed it!)






Also, if this link works, it should take you to a bit of video footage (if you swipe to the second photo) showing how magically Daniel Smith's Kyanite Genuine sparkles as it catches the light.  These still photos really can't do it justice.







A couple of times this week, I've sort of wished I'd stayed at an earlier stage with a couple of them.  This is Day 19's progression, and I like the spare first stage...

... and also the second layer with the shadowy background stems, as well as the final overgrown look.  At least I have a record of them all in photographic form.

Here they are in turn for you to pick your favourites from this batch.  (Yes, they're still in pairs.  I'm not going to cut them up into individual paintings until I've completed them all... that's going to be my "reward"!)

Days 17 and 18...

Days 19 and 20...

Days 21 and 22 (left very soft and loose with hardly any touching up for detail)...

Days 23 and 24...

You can see I was alternating between branches drooping down and stems reaching up throughout this batch.  I can't even decide which of those two options I like better, let alone pick favourites.  Over to you...

Thanks so much for stopping by today.  Everything is a bit topsy turvy at the moment what with packing to go away, but I'm hoping to squeeze in some blog visiting at some point too.  I hope you are all staying safe, well and creative.  Happy crafting all!

It is often the simple daily practices that influence our lives in dramatic ways.
From Living Peace by Alaric Hutchinson

I'd like to share these at Paint Party Friday, where it's Week 21 of Year 10
At Country View Challenges you still get to Do What Makes You Happy