'croton in all its glory!' ( water colour). Oct. 31, 2010.

Today I decided to tackle a painting of some flowering croton, that caught my eye in our yard the other day.
 I was just checking to see if the drain was clear.. and there were these amazing croton, with flowers!  So I went and got my camera, and took some pictures.

  I liked the many colours of red and purple and everything in between, with the light green of another plant that was a layer higher.  This is the result.  I enjoyed it, but still am looking for a way to increase the contrast, between the very dark background and the colours of the flowers and greenery.  Water colours become lighter as they dry, and so the contrast you thought you had, tends to fade a bit.

'croton in all its glory'   ( water colour )  Oct. 31, 2010.

' bell flowers'. ( water colour ) Oct. 30, 2010.

Today I was determined to paint, and not draw!  I followed methods taught to me, and just painted,  other than a few guide lines.  This was fun, because of the wild way that this tree grows.  The perspective is looking up at the leaves and flowers.

water colour  Oct. 30, 2010.

" red.. as a ruby". Oct. 23, 2010.

I will admit that I went to a flower book today, to try to find the name of this flower.  But.. for now.. I will have to call it the red flower! I have tried over the years to remember the names of the plants and flowers I encounter here in Trinidad and Tobago.. but to no avail!

At one time, as an agricultural project of the school, we put name tags on all of the flowers, and trees, we have growing in the yard.  The students learned the names, but I did not!

So, here it is, "red as a ruby"!

I am beginning to appreciate and find the subtleties of water colours. There are so many factors that come into play!

'the temple of the palm trees and oceans, and blue skies'. Speyside, Tobago. Oct. 16, 2010.

Today was a good day.  A haircut, some good music, some poems to read , cups of tea, and some painting.  I think this is what life is was meant to be like! A little piece of heaven, when you can find the space in your busy schedule. Peace!

Purple flowers.. growing in Plymouth, Tobago. ( water colour ) Oct.10, 2010.

I took most of the morning locating this photograph..as I am on a different computer!  And then I remembered Picasa Photo Albums!  A good way not to lose your photographs!

I am still working on the technique of covering large spaces of paper ( backgrounds etc.), without it showing your every stroke.  Have not got it yet, but... I  wanted to get that strong contrast of the dark blue background.  In the photograph it looks almost black, and shows the contrast so well. So I took a chance!

 If anyone out there can give me any hints as to how to handle dark colours in  large spaces,  I would be very grateful.

( can't find the picture cropping facility on this computer.. sorry!)

An Orchid. ( water colour ) Oct. 10, 2010.

It took me two tries today, to get this.  I love the photograph of the Orchid.. so intriguing a flower. 

I am working on a much slower computer today, as my fast one has stopped working.. grind. grind...

But, it worked!

Drift wood posts at Speyside, Tobago. Oct. 2, 2010.

I was lucky enough to be able to participate in a tour around Tobago, last weekend.  Since I was out for most of the weekend, I decided to try to take some pictures to work from.  This is one of them.

And this is the painting I did today. I really enjoyed doing this painting. I have been observing trees and pieces of wood and drift wood, for years. I feel a kinship with it, as I guess everyone does. So it was a pleasure to try to paint it.  This is todays 'offering'.

Drift wood posts. Speyside, Tobago.