Daily Painting Practice- Flower studies in watercolor or oil? - why not both?

I must be getting brave. I spent an afternoon at a painting get-together at a friends house  the other day and tried a flower study..... in watercolor!!!.  Since it was extremely hot outside  we all  sat inside and brought  flower cuttings in with us.

Painting Get-togethers are one of the best ways to practice new approaches. You are surrounded by fellow artists, you get plenty of help and suggestions. It's a great way to soak up some encouragement if you are at a low point with your art and best of all when ever artist friends get together.... you  eat well!

I started another study of a rose in watercolor back at home. Here's my drawing. I find that sketching always takes a me while to do, Always longer than I expect, with results that don't always seem worth the effort. But it  is probably the best  practice I can  do  to improve  every aspect of  my art. To me, sketching seems to  connect me with  that core artist inside. I think  it has something to do with the concentration of sketching being different than the  focus during painting.....Or maybe it's just my artist's brain getting a work out. Either way I find sketching  very much like a meditation.

It is a funny thing, after  many years of just wanting to get to the painting,  I am only now just learning the value of  the sketch..... I know,I know... I'm a slow learner.

I thought it would be fun to  paint the exact  same thing in oils. and see how the results differ. So I traced my  sketch and transferred it to a canvas board.

 Here's the  watercolor  study. I am still having a hard time  getting the colors I want. Pinks seem to be the hardest  color to try and match.

Rose Study

oil on board

5"x7"

I had just as much trouble with the pinks in oils. So it isn't the medium, ...it's the artist!