Daily painting practice- Composing and painting peonies

Unlike my oil painting,  I have not changed anything in this arrangement for my attempt at watercolor.  I can't it's watercolor!!!! However, I did not attempt a background, and as you know, that is where  I usually begin to fall apart and change my  paintings. Nor am I  going any further with this study. It's a good first shot at watercolor and I think it is a better idea to leave it alone with that feeling.  So as unfinished as it is I'm going to say it's done.

I had a lot of strange lessons with this watercolor. I kept loosing patience and wanted the detail to just "appear" so I could move on to the next section. When that did not happen I almost lost it, in fact, I was so impatient I quit  painting the flowers and  mixed a big puddle of dark  color and just wiped in the jar. I guess the lesson there is sometimes you just need to act and not think too much because I finished the jar in about 20 seconds.

After deciding to quit on the watercolor( I taped it to the door) I went back to the oil painting. Some of the comments I had in the previous post on this painting were very helpful. Especially the ones that mention the need for  leaves. Peonies  have such interesting leaves. The painting didn't feel real without them, so I  went out to my garden and  cut some  peony branches (the flowers have long since died.) I set  some up in the same vase and  will use them for reference.

 White Peonies - work in progress

20"x20"

oil on canvas

This painting has really been a struggle. There are moments I feel things are working fine and there are more moments when I paint over the entire  flower arrangement and start again. (can't do that with watercolor!)