It is a bromeliad - Aechmea "Del Mar", which looks nothing like any Bromeliad I've ever seen. I wonder if these flowers last as long as typical Bromeliad flowers. I think I need to search for these in the local nurseries so I can add them to our garden. They are very showy flowers and I love the color.
My plan was to paint this in a looser fashion like I learned in Karen Frey's workshop but I had done the drawing for this painting several weeks ago on 300# Arches paper. That is a very thick paper which sucks up the water and makes it hard (for me) to control the paint action so it ended up being tighter than I wanted but I am pretty happy with the results anyway. I used to really like 300# paper but I find that if I'm trying to mingle colors, they look really nice while they're wet but because they stay wet for so long, the colors lose their individual properties and blend too much. I have a lot of this thicker paper but I think I will be using the 140# paper instead for awhile.
Del Mar Bromeliad
Image Size 20" x 15"
Watercolor
the shadows make everything else pop. I always love your use of light/dark.
ReplyDeleteOh you have sure captured depth and dimension beautifully. I love the background too. Gorgeous work, Nancy. Such a stunning piece!
ReplyDeleteThank you Robin and Sherry.
ReplyDeleteThis has such gorgeous texture. Well done!!
ReplyDeleteThanks Joan.
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful plant and wonderful painting. You said it was sturdy but you caught a delicateness about it that makes me want to touch it and see if it is real.
ReplyDeleteThank you Leslie. I had to touch the plant to see if it was real too. It looks that perfect and fake in real life.
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