Study of different orchids - watercolor

I did a small study of three orchid flowers.I like the small one in the left corner the most. In real life I like vandas (the big purple one) really much, but they are not so great to paint. The pattern! It almost drove me crazy.You use only one color, but have to follow the pattern of the flower to make it really look like a vanda. 

I had some problems with the pink. Somehow I'm almost never happy with the way the pink turns out when the paper is dry. Maybe I have to buy more pink paint from different brands.

Watercolor roses

Roses... Oh dear..

What's in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet

 In 2010 and 2011 I visited the little town Lottum (in the Netherlands, near the German boarder). In the area of Lottum many rose farmers have their farms. You can walk through the rose fields and see (and smell) many different kinds of roses. Great whites, but also purple almost blue, sweet pink ones.

These roses offer great inspiration for paintings. Roses look beautiful but are definitely not easy to paint. All those petals! Sometimes I just don't know where to start.

Here you see the watercolor roses I painted. The one above is a small one and was really fun to paint. The painting with the two pink roses was painted in Sweden, when I was enjoying my summer holidays. And the one below, is a bit less realistic and looks more abstract.

That's enough roses for now. I think I will paint more orchids and other flowers in 2013.

Heart of an orchid

I made this painting a couple of years ago. It is a close-up of a phalaenopsis orchid. I had a orchid like this for many years, but it didn't survive moving to a new home.
In the heart of phalaenopsis orchids you find many different colors. I used many different kinds of pink, red and purple for this painting.
The purple petals are painted in pink first, but I thought it was too pink. I used a second layer of more blue/purple paint. You can still see the pink trough the blue  paint, which gives it a different texture than the heart of the orchid. I like it now, but I'm not sure if I can do it again like this. I was correcting a mistake and now I think it wasn't really a mistake to start with bright pink. I guess this is the way we learn from our mistakes.

It is a small painting on canvas (30x30 cm's).

Pink Orchids on Grey

This painting was a commission. Someone liked a painting with pink flower. We descised to make the background grey. I started with the background and use different shades of grey. I started the flowers with two shades of pink. After adding more shades the flowers got more purple and the hearts more red.
I continued to add more details and finally added some shadow on the grey.

I'm sorry for the horrible photo. I don't have a better photo. The painting is sold and not in my possession anymore. The shadow under the flowers give the painting more depth. The buyer was very happy with the result, which made me happy.

Yellow Orchid On Red

This painting is a good example of my way of working. I usually start with the background of the painting. (after I've drawn the flowers) I mix one color and apply it on the background. I like to do the background first so I can paint the flowers on the background and don't have to worry about the background anymore.

After I painted the background and the first layer of yellow of the flowers, I continue to give the flowers more depth. Mostly this means I give some areas more light and others more shadow. Acrylics are wonderful paint, because you can use white to make lights in the painting; if you use watercolors this is more difficult. I like acrylics because I can start with one colored flower and add more color in different steps. In this way I 'build' the painting.

The end result. The hearts of the flowers got more details and the shadows are darker. I like the finished painting. It was fun to paint.

The painting is sold.

Pink orchids

I started this painting on a new block of paper. The paper was smoother than expected and did not paint the way I liked it. I used acrylic for this painting.  Below you can see the finished painting. I think I will make this painting again on different paper. I really like the pink in combination with the greens.

Orchid on blue

When I start a painting, I always start with a drawing. This painting is a big close-up of one single orchid (in acrylic). I started with a deep blue background. Next step was painting the orchid.

The first layers are not so soft as I like them to be, but it is a beginning. Now I continue painting and give the painting more depth and color. I like working with acrylics because it dries quickly. Below the final painting. I'm happy with the result.