Inspiration Sunday June 12/11

Here are some pics from my garden:

 a few weigela blooms

 my weigela bush

 This iris was a complete surprise
















My challenge for this week:
card 1:- coat your paper with a layer of irridescent paint added to gesso. Paint with transparent watercolor over the gesso.
card 2:- paint using red, black and yellow

I used irridescent silver mixed with the gesso, in order to create a contrast with the warm tones of the red and yellow over an old beginning.

a glob of gesso and a squirt of silver

Thinking it would be fun to add a bit of texture, I placed a piece of plastic wrap over the surface and smooshed it about, pressing with my fingers, and marking with my nails. I left it to set. Then I was distracted by some chores, and when I returned, it was just about dry, and the plastic was very difficult to remove!

It left some neat texture, though.

Beginning with yellow:











Adding the red:












Using dried and pressed maple leaves as a resist:

a spritz of black paint

The leaves removed
the paint underneath was a wee bit damp, and some of the black spread

 I defined the leaf edges and added a bit of black ink to indicate some veins. It's still not completely dry, but I think it's interesting having the silver peek through the watercolor in places.










The next challenge:
card 1:- paint a still life of these three items: flowers, a piece of fabric, third object of choice
card 2:- use light and pale pigments and add a saturated medium-value pigment in a small area

Last time Gina asked if I was creating cards using the painting I'd finished. Cutting it into smaller pieces ~ 3"x3.5", here's what they look like:

What do you think? Would they make nice cards? Would you like one?






Hope your Sunday was a pleasant one.
Thanks for visiting.
Hugs from Suz