Flower Madness! Part 1: Irises

 Just a quick post to share what I've been doing recently in my watercolor practice.
The sun started peeking through the clouds recently and giving us warm days, and I have been spending a lot of time outside drawing all the beautiful things that are growing everywhere.
I love drawing irises in particular, because they are really complex and challenging. There are so many different kinds, and they are all hypnotizing.

It was particularly hard to paint the white iris, and I don't think I managed the task that I set out for myself, which was to capture the fresh and crisp paper-like feel of the petals. I think my weakness as a watercolorist is that I overdo things a little, and make the colors get a little heavy. This quality lends itself to a particular style that I have, but sometimes I want to achieve a light feel and it's hard to do!

After scanning these two images above and putting them one next to another, they start to look a bit like old timey nature illustrations! I like that.

Below are some comparison shots with the original flower next to the painting.  I enjoy taking comparison shots. It gives me future reference and a different perspective to view my painting if I have been staring at it for too long.

Go outside and paint some flowers! Happy watercoloring!