Mother’s Day flowers, great art for this special day
It doesn’t feel like it in Ontario, but it’s Mother’s Day. We have February weather, but we are keeping our hearts warm and we celebrate Mother’s Day. I do not celebrate in particular, however, my daughter sent me be-well-have-a-happy-Mother’s-Day card early in the morning. We have to admit, whatever the situation, our mother always deserves the best, respect, love and recognition. I assume it’s a fantastic occasion to post great floral art.
Late with posting, happy with outcome
I am a bit late with publishing the brand-new floral paintings because they certainly suit the occasion and the purpose. I might sell them next year or next season. I am happy how these paintings came out. I love white color and strong contrast, too. Floral paintings allow implementing exactly that, especially when painting white flowers.
White magnolia, 12 x 12 in
Mothers love floral art
If my mom were still around, she’d definitely love these paintings. I do know that acrylic paint isn’t oil paint, and every step which takes a few minutes in oils, can take hours painting with acrylic. Daffodil charm painting took 4 full workdays and the White magnolia elegance took almost 3 full days. That is because of layers and need to allow painting to dry naturally between layers.
Enjoy, paint your own or purchase
I noticed that my paintings work really well together. It’s almost as if any painting goes with any other painting. That refers to many years ago painted art and the new art which was painted just recently. I have step-by-step images for daffodils and magnolia. I intend to post them later on project’s page which is in progress. Please, let me know, if you would be interested.
While the weather is still changing swiftly outdoors, my studio blossoms in full force. Spring flowers are in bloom!
Art is timeless, it can easily survive us. Art is a gentle reminder that we never know everything and we are here just to learn and to give our skills to others.
We are adding new projects practically weekly, and I am finalizing some paintings at least twice a week. Light is great during the day and days are becoming longer, too. I am not sure how much brighter the light should be for video recording. It is very sufficient when painting, but for video recording it is still not enough as it appears.
Doing is better than watching
My personal point is, nobody has ever learned anything by watching others do it. We can either paint or draw, or watch others paint. It’s pretty much so that we cannot do both at the same time. I would say, if you want to learn, just go for it. Everybody damages many watercolor papers and paints over previously painted canvas many times and until they manage to use the brush properly, as well as understand what colors they like and how to create them.
What is important
It was never about how to paint or draw an apple, or one particular flower, or one particular landscape. Painting and drawing is a skill which follows certain principles and teaches one to become efficient with decision making.
These are watercolor supplies we were using
No need to be afraid
It is silly to be afraid of damaging paper or canvas. While we learn, we are in process of discovering so many aspects of our subject. This is a path which involves many sideways and much blundering around until we find the right way for us.
White and yellow daffodils, watercolor
Trillium forest, watercolor on paper, one of my recent watercolor painting projects. It is so lovely to paint fresh greens!
This was an amazing project, and we really enjoyed creating dark background around the white blossoms.
More spring flowers from previous projects
That’s what I do every spring: disappear in flowers until it is time to start digging and planting seeds in the soil.
Enjoy the spring blossoming and lovely colors of flowers. This subject really works well using any medium, but especially watercolor, thanks to speed and fast coverage of large areas.
Copyrights of the displayed art belong to artist Inese Poga. Please, do not copy, or use, or place images of my art on any other websites without written consent from Inese Poga. See full Copyright notice on the widget area.
We can learn painting and create better art using many tools and sources nowadays. Internet is huge and numerous sites offer tutorials, art classes and online and live workshops. I would like to share a few observations which stood out after talking to students and seeing how they learn. I’m convinced also that successful painting is a combination of many aspects. The other notable matter is that anything we want to be of high quality and value takes time, efforts and practice, and there is no other way to master a skill. I have listed below assumptions and factors which do not result in good art.
Copying colors and image will do it
Lots of people use color charts or try to recreate the exact colors of a photo. With current numerous brands and very wide range in art supply quality, the most important part is not what the photo has, but what works for your painting. Photography has different tools to create impressive image. Drawing, watercolor, pastel, acrylic and oil painting use completely different tools. Only copying colors and image won’t result in great art because that is the input of artist which makes art great. Outline drawing is important, but artist makes it alive with the use of artistic tools and paints.
Using exactly the same colors and drawing will create the same image
Using exactly the same colors and drawing won’t result in the same painting because it is usually not possible to repeat original artwork even by the artist who painted it. Ambient temperature, flow of paint, sloppy or targeted brushstroke, light conditions, air humidity in room or outdoors, inspiration, mood of artist, surge of energy or tiredness are all significant factors. It’s also not important what colors somebody else used because the differences between the same name colors can be huge with different brands. Therefore, the most important part is to test what you have and to see what your paints can do.
Color is secondary, value is primary or otherwise black and white paintings or monochromatic paintings would not make sense. They do, so, value is the aspect that provides image and subject with volume and dimension. If in doubt, you can always create a tonal or value sketch. I do that for complex paintings in watercolor going large scale or exactly the same size what my painting is.
I can paint knowing nothing about color mixing and paint features
You can paint knowing nothing about color mixing and paint features. Most likely, it will take time and many experiments to get to where you want to be. Eventually, you will arrive at all creation-related discoveries, it just might be a time-consuming process. I am talking about years, not hours. Simply, there will be good, mediocre or not satisfying result at first. Initially, all good results come from happy painting accidents, and we get what we get as opposed to what we intend to.
I will learn painting just watching others paint
No, that is not true. Art instructors or people, who demonstrate painting, know what they are doing or at least they should. Quite frequently people, who watch it, have no idea what, where and why is applied. The personal features and ability to apply paint and correct color matter, too. If the art is somewhat realistic, it is very important to be able to draw. We sketch with brush at first, and then we follow with brushstrokes to create volume, shadows, negative spaces and so on. If you can draw, you know better where to apply paint.
What, where and why
In the painting process, we have to answer these questions at any point of painting process. It is very useful to know why you are doing something. Why do you want the background dark or light? Why do you want to place some accent in the middle or in front? Why do you want distant parts cool and the front part warm? Why do you want to use black, purple or blue for grey color? Why do you paint the focal point in the most striking color? And so on. All of these answers impact your painting, later series of paintings, and they eventually create your style.
Paint night or sipping and painting
Many believe that paint night or sipping and painting will teach how to paint. These are entertaining events with a brush and paint, not art classes. The goal of such events isn’t teaching you composition, color theory, values or brush stroke. The goal is to entertain and painting is just an addition to mood, drink or food. I have mentioned many times before how important focus and decision making is for creation of art. Paint night or sipping and painting do not contain the most important learning aspects, such as reasoning, decision making or using your personalized approach.
Everything is art
Everything isn’t art and it shouldn’t be. While many people might refer to a canvas covered with some paint as art, it isn’t always art. You can hang it on the wall and it becomes wall filler. However, you can also look at it after it has dried and canvas fabric has become visible (too less paint coverage!) and try to create something decent on top of it. I wrote in my previous article that calling framed wallpaper art does not make it art. It is a decorative piece, just as an empty frame is.
Aimless splashing with paint
The reality of nowadays is such that we want everything right away, right this moment and even better yet, without much or any effort. Art has never been just brushing around or aimlessly splashing with paint. Art always involves thinking, concept, idea and the execution thereof with adequate artistic tools. Aimless splashing and brushing of paint results in nothing really. One uses a lot of paint and time with no result. I have seen over years people, who picked up art effortlessly, and I have also seen people, who had to spend years to learn. An art class is no different from a regular school class: some students learn fast, some are perfectionists, some are free-spirited, some are not that interested and some simply do not focus or pay attention.
Perfectionism and perfect skill
Perfectionism is disturbing and limiting when it comes to learning. Why? It is disturbing since there is no such thing as a perfect attempt, a perfect error or a perfect search for a new technique and skill. Perfectionism is the opposite of artistic freedom and it has nothing to do with the quality of result in learning process. I hear this often: I am a perfectionist. That is fine, but it does not apply to learning new things. One cannot be perfect with what they cannot do or do not know. Developing perfect skills is more like it, but perfect skill is a result while learning is a process. Learning process involves making errors and being mistaken. Learning process involves searching for the best or most suitable solution in the current situation.
Preparing my solo show
I am working on preparation of my solo art show next month. It opens on February 13. I just finished a few watercolor paintings which I started for November and December classes. Pink color is not a coincidence. It is a very attractive, soothing color which has also big impact and is gentle at the same time. Less people attend shows or art events nowadays since everything is on the internet. I would like to still emphasize that nothing compares to seeing art in person. There are so many devices between the real painting and its image on the internet! Any of these devices totally change the look of painting, so some things get lost along the way. Anyway, enjoy the new paintings!
The elegant pink rose, watercolor on 20 x 16 inches or 51 x 41 cm watercolor paper, the white background enhances the softness and attraction of color in the rose flower
Pink winter orchids,, watercolor on paper, 20 x 16 in or 51 x 41 cm
Magnolia blooms on white, watercolor, 18 x 14 inches or 46 x 36 cm
Copyright notice: Copyright of displayed paintings, drawings, images of work in progress and images of finished paintings belong to artist Inese Poga. Use of painting and drawing images is prohibited on any website or otherwise if I have not issued a written permission. No pinning on Pinterest!
This year, I am filling my summer sketchbook with floral art. Watercolor sketch, pen and watercolor or purely watercolor are excellent ways to paint summer scenes, summer flowers, summer landscapes and simply enjoy the outdoors and beauty. The easiest way to practice painting with watercolors is using pen and watercolor wash, that will fill your sketchbook in no time. That enables us creating great composition and not caring too much about pencil lines and perfect application of watercolor.
Summer poppies, 12 x 16 in or 30.5 x 40.5 cm
Summer poppies, 12 x 16 in or 30.5 x 40.5 cm
Excellent technique for beginners
Pen and watercolor wash is a great technique for beginning watercolor artists. The most exciting part is adding watercolor washes, as well as more detailed areas with more concentrated paint. We can create a wonderful painting in less time this way because we do not need multi-step drawing transfer onto watercolor paper. It is also much easier to know where to use paint because the black outline clearly identifies that.
The spring rose, 15 x 11 in or 38 x 28 cm
Greatness takes time
If you are new to a particular medium or absolutely new to drawing and painting, you have to remember: nothing happens right away. Every skill takes time, efforts and work to develop. It is no reason to give up painting or drawing if you are not happy with the first few drawings and sketches. You might be surprised how much better one becomes after a while.
Sunflowers, pen and watercolor, 12 x 16 in or 30.5 x 40.5 cm
Not every painting is masterwork
Focusing on perfection right away will cause you to be disappointed. Any artist will tell you that they have damaged, and thrown out lots and lots of initial sketches, painted over initial scenes, changed the layout and composition completely, switched to a different color or tools. They have done many things before they have created the first amazing painting. Not every drawing or painting is or should be a masterwork. It should be a stepping stone on our way to better art. We use our errors as a way of discovering how to achieve what we want and have intended.
Red poppies, pen and watercolor, 11 x 14 in or 28 x 36 cm
For your inspiration
Get inspired by my simple pen and watercolor sketches. This time, they are floral sketches and paintings. Go outdoors; see what you have in your backyard. Sketching is always better if you do not use any photos, but the real thing in front of you. Pen and watercolor technique allows achieving fast results, therefore, your subject will not change while you draw and sketch it.
Clematis, pen and watercolor, 12 x 16 in or 30.5 x 40.5 cm
Art supplies for drawing and sketching to fill your summer sketchbook
CANSON XL cold press, 140 lb watercolor paper, size 12 x 16 or 12 x 18 in
Arches, cold press, 140 lb watercolor paper, size 12 x 16 or 12 x 18 in
Saunders Waterford, cold press,watercolor paper in whatever weight is available and affordable, size 12 x 16 or 12 x 18 in
For pen, you can use any black pen which does not bleed with application of water. I recommend MICRON brand which contains archival ink, size from 1 to 05, test it. You can test it at the store for thickness of line before buying to see which one you like.
Graphite pencil, HB or even harder
Soft, kneaded, artist’s grade eraser, it is sold in art stores.
Paper towel, a few sheets
Set of watercolors in basic colors
All my art prints, art cards and other products on FAA:
Flowers and paintings are a natural fit. Don’t you think? I started to take some pictures, and there were flowers which I had used for watercolor class as a reference material nearby. Colors came out more balanced, and the ambient impact was flawless.
I decided to sell both: flowers and plants as we move ahead. I think it is a great idea because I have numerous plants and numerous paintings. In fact, I have many hundreds of paintings.
Enjoy the recent paintings
This time, you can enjoy my recent flower paintings surrounded by more beauty of live plants and blossoms.
The beautiful contrast between daffodils from the garden and spring magnolia painting, or maybe it is a compliment?
Acrylic paintings of roses with hyacinths, the large one is 20 x 16 in or 51 x 41 cm and the pink rose is 12 x 12 in or 30.5 x 30.5 cm. It is the same subject, but different look
Lovely colors, lovely paintings: bright white calla lilies and the pink rose
Drawing for the 3-hour rose workshop is visible behind the painting. I painted this pink rose as a demo for flower painting workshop. Colors of painting and live daffodils look gorgeous together.
New priorities in art instruction
I also rescheduled and regrouped my priorities in art instruction. When it comes to art instruction and teaching, I enjoy students, who have genuine interest in learning something new and in developing their skills as opposed to those who just hope that painting paints itself. Everything requires work and efforts. The result of flower painting is very pleasing.
Small groups: big attention
My space can accept quite a lot of students, but I decided to have rather individual and private classes or small size groups. That gives me the opportunity to review all important aspects of getting somebody started in drawing, watercolor and acrylic painting. Large groups suit more the art entertainment, like painting in bars and restaurants. They don’t care about quality or skills one develops, but I certainly do.
Experience helps
Also, individual or private art classes require very high level of art instructor’s skills, and not everybody has them. Well, I do. I have huge experience and I have definitely explored practically everything when it comes to creation of a drawing or painting. I am extremely good at drawing, as well as I have worked out my personal watercolor and acrylic painting style. It sure takes many years, not hours.
Preparation of an art class
I know how people use to think that art class does not require much preparation time. It is straight the opposite. I frequently adjust not only the painting subject, but also level of difficulty, and pay attention to availability of materials and reference materials. That can take sometimes 4-6 hours. The follow up classes on the same painting subject take less preparation time, but it is never less than a few hours. I have to review what every student has achieved so far, what and why they need to work more at. I switch from one painting subject to another if student or group cannot handle it.
Advantages of private or individual art classes
I believe, private or individual art class is the best solution for people who want to seriously engage in art or feel uncomfortable with other people around them. It will definitely lead to faster achievements and results. More ideas about painting flowers with acrylic: Create beauty
Please, review schedule and let me know if you are interested in any art classes: Sign up for classes
I am always happy selling a painting to people, who love art. You are welcome to contact me via Contact page and visit the studio at any time which suits my and your schedule.
Meditate with color and line and treat yourself with an extremely wonderful experience!
Copyright notice: Copyright of displayed paintings, drawings, images of work in progress and images of finished paintings belong to artist Inese Poga. The use of painting and drawing images is prohibited without a written permission. That includes no pinning on Pinterest.
