It's super tricky painting these close up flowers. This week has been crazy and not crazy. I've had sick kids all week (yes, the flue is visiting us YET again) (Oh, joy) and in between making tea, taking temps, making soup, feeling brows, giving vitamins, bringing juice, cutting up oranges, covering up, uncovering, rubbing backs, coloring with, fetching things, washing, cooking, making toast....I've been painting! Ha! I don't have to be at ballet or piano or Taekwondo or play dates or church or anything. Double Ha! ....the beautiful silver lining to the dark cloud that is influenza! My kids have watched WAAAAY too much TV this week, but it's the only way to keep them down and resting, so I've assuaged my guilty conscience with the thought that I never let them watch much and it won't kill them for 4 days out of their life. Weaning them off of it will be tough, but leeeet's not worry about that now. I'm painting in my art studio, listening to my kids watch episodes of the BBC's Robin Hood and Extreme Couponing. That is not one show, it is two, mind you. I have NO earthly idea why my offspring like to watch Extreme Couponing b/c I don't personally clip coupons, but for some reason they find this show fascinating...... that you can get $1,459.97 worth of junk food for $.37 if you just clip enough coupons...but I digress here! You are obviously visiting this blog b/c you are interested in art, not my children's quirky TV habits. So, this flower has taken me THREE WEEKS to paint. My paintings are taking longer and LONGER to finish....I'm not sure if this is progress or not. It's hugely detailed and just explaining all the steps right now feels like work, so I will let my pics do the talking for me and if you have any specific questions, you can email me or call or use whatever communication you have....I'm sure I'll be found if you're looking b/c I can't seem to get away from anyone these days (not that I'm actively trying).....I remember the days when I went out to the store and I couldn't be reached for HOURS on end b/c I didn't have a cell phone or texting or ichat or skyping or anything that made me reachable in any way, shape or form. Now, I find myself pushing a shopping cart with my hip bone, loading groceries with one hand, texting with the other while making violent shushing noises to my restless children. While I'm texting, I could get an emergency phone call from my husband who can't decide between the 300 lb. roll of aluminum foil or the 2500 square foot roll of cellophane, and could I please tell him which I need? (the question to ask is, do I really NEED a 300 lb. roll of aluminum? That's a lot of baked potatoes...) This is all happening while I'm trying to communicate to the deli lady that I really need one pound of THINLY slliced meat not two pieces that each weigh 1/2 a pound. (which is what they'll do if you don't watch them like a hawk b/c they don't like slicing with that slicey thing that they slice with) I know this from experience! NOTHING is worse than bringing home one whole pound of meat and using it up on one very thick sandwich b/c it's sliced too thickly! It's perfectly dreadful, b/c it means that I have to make ANOTHER trip to the grocery store to get more meat to last the week. The HORROR! Wait, where was I? Ah, yes....painting a pink flower *cue soft classical music*. I think I've been in the house too long. © Copyright Cady Driver 2016 - All Rights Reserved
14 Comments
3/7/2013 09:41:10 am
Beautiful, came alive when you added the highlights, just lovely!
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Cady
3/7/2013 10:27:24 am
Thank you! This one was definitely a challenge for me, but worth it in the end.
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Lisa
3/7/2013 10:56:44 am
This flower painting is beautiful. I used to homeschool and do ministries and paint. Now my kids are grown, I work part time but I am having a hard time getting back into painting. Your blog may inspire me to get at it again. Thanks for sharing!
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Cady
3/7/2013 11:03:22 am
Hey Lisa, another homeschool mom! Yippee! Love homeschooling...most days! lol
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3/7/2013 11:18:52 am
What a lovely painting - I love the vibrant pinks - I am usually too timid and muddy my pinks instead of letting them glow. Also they always slice my meat too thin at the deli. Wanna trade?
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Cady
3/7/2013 11:24:35 am
Thanks, Angela! I used mostly Winsor & Newton Opera Rose on this one...and yes, it's super easy to muddy up reds and pinks...I've done it MANY a time. I really didn't mix a whole lot with this flower. I wanted the pink to be PINK. Try just building up your pink gradually in your washes so you don't lose that vibrancy.
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Lori
3/7/2013 01:56:23 pm
This is really beautiful. I do have a few questions...did you paint on the white highlights or use masking fluid or just paint around them? Also did you have a reference photo? thank you
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Sandra
3/7/2013 10:37:37 pm
Absolutely beautiful! Thanks for a lovely blog. I am a beginner watercolour painter (teaching myself) and I work full-time - so I really battle to find some spare time to just sit and paint. How I long to be able to just spend a few days doing nothing but painting *sigh*
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Cady
3/8/2013 12:15:01 am
Hi Lori, I didn't paint on the highlights, I masked them at the beginning. I only use white gouache as a last resort. I really think preserving the white of the paper with masking fluid or painting around your highlights is the best way.
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Sue Caton
3/8/2013 12:20:48 am
Such beauty! From Sue in Dorset, England
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Cady
3/8/2013 01:40:38 am
Sandra, I hear ya! I always tell my students to make sure that they have a table or place somewhere in their house that is always set up with their paints and brushes. It makes it MUCH easier to just sit down for a spare 15-20 minutes and peck away at a project. If you're constantly having to set up your art and then pack it up again, it won't happen.
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3/8/2013 11:10:06 am
Absolutely stunning! I wish I had half the talent you have! I'm a new reader of your blog, and look forward to more posts of your lovely artwork. Do you share your techniques?
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Barbara Sample
3/14/2013 02:22:20 am
Hello Cady, I just found you via facebook and am excited to find this blog. I also am a self taught artist, so far I am mostly watercolor, I find this is my favorite. I have also done pastel and sketching. I am surprised that I found that I am doing ok with painting. I never thought I could even draw let alone make them believable. I am retired and thought, "this is the time to try this" so I did. I follow youtube as much as possible, and I am also attending a class of artists in Florida (we go there for two months int he winter) there is no instructor, but the artists are knowledgeable and very willing to help if needed. I love the class. I am looking forward to your videos and help if needed. thank you for being here. Barbara
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Barbara
3/14/2013 04:15:50 am
That's great that you've picked it up so quickly, Barbara! People always say that they don't think that they could be artsy, but they've never tried b/c they're scared to. I think that people feel intimidated or overwhelmed with the process b/c they are looking at art from artists who have been working for decades, but those artists started with really bad art. lol
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About CadyI'm a wife and mother of four kids. I homeschool, paint, run, and garden! I am always interested in digging truths out of Scripture. Here, you'll find my thoughts on art, adoption, gardening, mothering, homeschooling, books and whatever else is on my mind. Enjoy! QuoteCreativity doesn't exist in a vacuum - like skepticism, it's a means, not an end. It cries out for a theme. To treat creativity as an end in itself is to assume godlike character for humans as though they could create ex nihilo. -J. Cheane Archives
August 2016
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