Other images from the Diana Hudson Watercolours by Diana Hudson
9 comments so far...
1.
Thea Cable
24 May 2009 09:44
I think this is beautiful, Diana. The petals are wonderfully well painted and the colour is perfect. Backgrounds are so difficult. I actually like the flower against a white background as I think it adds real impact in that you notice only the lovely detail of the petals and stem. However, with the purple-blue of the flower, a touch of an orange in a background always seems to work. If you don't want to put a background right up to the flower, you could consider just a touch of orange or another colour just in a corner to suggest a background without defining it too much. I watched a DVD by Shirley Trevena who does a lot of wonderful flowers and she suggested that if you were not sure if something was going to turn out to be a mistake in a painting, to paint that section or colour on a seperate piece of paper and hold it in position over the painting to see if it works. You could try doing that by cutting out the shape of the flower out of a piece of paper and then trying various backgrounds and colours on the paper that is left to see what you think. Might be less scary than just diving in and regretting it. Good luck!
2.
Tina Eriksen
24 May 2009 09:48
so beautifull and delicate!
3.
Diana Hudson
24 May 2009 10:26
Great idea Thea; I will cut out a shape and try it on various backgrounds although I would have much preferred to do the background first.. I've made so many messes lately this is only on thick sketching paper before wasting any of the expensive stuff. I did look at Shirley Trevena's work. Her style doesn't appeal to me very much but her technique is absolutely fantastic and well worth learning from. Her bravery with colours and her control of paint are inspiring.
4.
Carole Swingler
24 May 2009 10:36
Hi Diana, I agree with Thea a good idea to try when in doubt. I notice a lot of professional say you have to take risks and go for it, but easier said than done when it takes the soul out of us to get this far and don't want to spoil it ! This is painted so well and very striking as it is, these are very hard to draw never mind paint. Hope you don't mind my saying Diana but your flower looks like an Iris more than a sweet pea.
5.
norah blount
24 May 2009 11:05
I like it too Diana and the few flowers I have done were so hard to draw never mind paint. I looked up a book I have by Wendy Tait and she wets the background carefully up to the petals and then drops in background colour to contrast with the main flower and then adds in a few weaker toned flowers in the background to give depth while it is still wet. She also uses all transparent colours and uses winsor violet and permanent rose and quinc yellow, winsor lemon and cobalt blue a lot. Heard that Opera is a lovely colour for sweet pea too. Just off now for weeks painting will look foward to seeing gallery next week
6.
patsy king
24 May 2009 12:05
I think it's beautiful wonderful colours...no technical advice from me not experienced enough but it's so difficult with watercolour isn't it...scary
7.
Diana Hudson
24 May 2009 12:13
Many thanks for the ideas. You know Carol you could be right. It was one of a set of photos my husband took and I just assumed it was one of the sweet pea set. It may well be an iris- I'm not really a gardener. I just stick plants in and hope they grow. With clay soil, a huge sycamore overshadowing everything and two dogs it's a miracle anything survives.
8.
max lennox
24 May 2009 23:41
We think this looks good without a background...... the colour really stands out......The background colour we will leave for the experts.
9.
Rachel McNaughton
12 Aug 2009 11:58
I usually try to get the background flooded in at the beginning. If you go to my own website www.artbyrachel.co.uk you can download a pdf (on the home page) which will tell you how to do my method. click on "backgrounds for flowers 2"
I hope it helps!!
_130487.jpg "Colours of Autumn-stolen")
_130494.jpg "Dahlias")
_130497.jpg "Winter trees; watercolour and gouache")
w_130499.jpg "Apple blossom")
_130506.jpg "Mother love")
.jpg "Colours of Autumn-stolen")
.jpg "Dahlias")
.jpg "Winter trees; watercolour and gouache")
w.jpg "Apple blossom")
.jpg "Mother love")
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1.
Thea Cable
24 May 2009 09:44
I think this is beautiful, Diana. The petals are wonderfully well painted and the colour is perfect. Backgrounds are so difficult. I actually like the flower against a white background as I think it adds real impact in that you notice only the lovely detail of the petals and stem. However, with the purple-blue of the flower, a touch of an orange in a background always seems to work. If you don't want to put a background right up to the flower, you could consider just a touch of orange or another colour just in a corner to suggest a background without defining it too much. I watched a DVD by Shirley Trevena who does a lot of wonderful flowers and she suggested that if you were not sure if something was going to turn out to be a mistake in a painting, to paint that section or colour on a seperate piece of paper and hold it in position over the painting to see if it works. You could try doing that by cutting out the shape of the flower out of a piece of paper and then trying various backgrounds and colours on the paper that is left to see what you think. Might be less scary than just diving in and regretting it. Good luck!
2.
Tina Eriksen
24 May 2009 09:48
so beautifull and delicate!
3.
Diana Hudson
24 May 2009 10:26
Great idea Thea; I will cut out a shape and try it on various backgrounds although I would have much preferred to do the background first.. I've made so many messes lately this is only on thick sketching paper before wasting any of the expensive stuff. I did look at Shirley Trevena's work. Her style doesn't appeal to me very much but her technique is absolutely fantastic and well worth learning from. Her bravery with colours and her control of paint are inspiring.
4.
Carole Swingler
24 May 2009 10:36
Hi Diana, I agree with Thea a good idea to try when in doubt. I notice a lot of professional say you have to take risks and go for it, but easier said than done when it takes the soul out of us to get this far and don't want to spoil it ! This is painted so well and very striking as it is, these are very hard to draw never mind paint. Hope you don't mind my saying Diana but your flower looks like an Iris more than a sweet pea.
5.
norah blount
24 May 2009 11:05
I like it too Diana and the few flowers I have done were so hard to draw never mind paint. I looked up a book I have by Wendy Tait and she wets the background carefully up to the petals and then drops in background colour to contrast with the main flower and then adds in a few weaker toned flowers in the background to give depth while it is still wet. She also uses all transparent colours and uses winsor violet and permanent rose and quinc yellow, winsor lemon and cobalt blue a lot. Heard that Opera is a lovely colour for sweet pea too. Just off now for weeks painting will look foward to seeing gallery next week
6.
patsy king
24 May 2009 12:05
I think it's beautiful wonderful colours...no technical advice from me not experienced enough but it's so difficult with watercolour isn't it...scary
7.
Diana Hudson
24 May 2009 12:13
Many thanks for the ideas. You know Carol you could be right. It was one of a set of photos my husband took and I just assumed it was one of the sweet pea set. It may well be an iris- I'm not really a gardener. I just stick plants in and hope they grow. With clay soil, a huge sycamore overshadowing everything and two dogs it's a miracle anything survives.
8.
max lennox
24 May 2009 23:41
We think this looks good without a background...... the colour really stands out......The background colour we will leave for the experts.
9.
Rachel McNaughton
12 Aug 2009 11:58
I usually try to get the background flooded in at the beginning. If you go to my own website www.artbyrachel.co.uk you can download a pdf (on the home page) which will tell you how to do my method. click on "backgrounds for flowers 2" I hope it helps!!