#12 Cups and Saucers -Cheri

Trying my loose painting not loose enough yet, still wanted to do details. Although the flower is the really loose.

Painting #82 - "Orange Blossoms"

I painted this image for Cactus Monday.  This dark background is a first for me as I normally have trouble going so dark.  I really like how the blooms turned out.  Values!

Painting #31 Cactus - Plein Air

I sat in the back and painted my neighbor's night-blooming cereus cactus (not currently blooming).  I especially paid attention to the differences between a photo and the real thing and it is amazing.  I want to do more plein air now.

I chose to do a minimalist look because it does stand alone like this.

Painting #16 Baby Barrel Cactus

I painted this for Cactus Monday because it lives in front of our house and is just a baby barrel cactus about 1.5 inches in diameter.  When I almost stepped on it I decided small is good for close observation and a painting.

The surrounding stones are also very small and I decided to de-emphasize them in the painting leaving just a hint so the cactus was the main focus.

Next year this baby will be twice the size.

Paintings Number 3 and 4 Cactus Blooms

I started out with this painting and then moved right on because I didn’t like it. (geez, that judge in me is so overwhelming).  I like the colors but the cactus blooms just didn’t look right.  I painted this from a photo I took last spring when this plant was blooming and the flowers are so delicate and faintly colored that I decided to try just one flower so it was the only focus.

I like the delicacy of this one but it is lost on the white paper.  I did crank up the pink a bit and put a light blue wash in the background.  My question is; what kind of background would  look best?   

I get so focused on my subject that backgrounds elude me.   I guess I see the trees and not the forest.

This is on Strathmore 140# cold press watercolor paper.  A good paper is such a dream to paint on.  I think I've been using Moleskine way too long.