Magnolias

When I started this painting last week, the magnolias were in full bloom, but now they are already just about finished, with only a few sad little flowers just waiting for a little wind to blow them down to the ground.    I wish all of these beautiful spring flowers lasted just a bit longer.  It is so short lived, I guess that's what makes us appreciate them so much more. 

The beautiful white magnolia stellata really caught my eye this spring, so crisp and clean looking with their long slender petals, quite a different look when compared to the wider pink versions that usually catch my eye.



 


I had a lot of fun creating the background for this painting.  I started with a watercolor wash first, and then did a lot of the painting with an eye dropper with watered down acrylics.  You can see this especially along the edges of the painting with the aqua.  I love how it looked when it dried and the variation in its opacity.  I then used all sorts of layers of recycled tea bags, scrapbook paper, painted tracing paper and tissue paper.  The background is so colorful that I hope it doesn't detract too much from the flowers.



Unfortunately I feel like these flowers look very much like daisies, and being white I don't quite get the contrast that I would like.   I thought about making the flowers pink, but I really had these white flowers stuck in my head which made the pink look not quite right.   I think I might let this one sit for a week or two and then come back and look at it again to see how I feel about it.

The beautiful lilacs (I think my favorite smell ever), apple, crab apples and plum trees are all starting to bloom now.   The kids and I have been on quite a few walks lately and I'm sure I'm walking with a smile on my face as we see spring and all of its cheeriness all around us.

Have a wonderful, blossom filled weekend.