Saturday 14 June 2008

Garden Gnome

Holidays over and it's back to work and there's some wonderful flowering going on around the garden. This is me in deep concentration alone with my muse - a fantastically bright red poppy with it's petals flapping about in the breeze like danger flags or wildly gesticulating arms trying like mad to attract attention:

What you don't see in this picture, apart from the photographer (Mrs.C) creeping around at my back, is Leo hiding under his favourite dark red bush ready to pounce on any tweety-birdies who happen to hop by. Oh, aye, and for the length of time I was sitting there making a whole bunch of studies my feet had taken root!


Pastels on Ingres paper, 30x23cm: "Poppy 1"; as the title suggests this was the first study made that day of these big flappy petals. And no sooner had I photographed the painting and uploaded it onto my Etsy site than a lady from Australia purchased it because her little baby daughter is also called Poppy!

Pastels on Ingres paper, 30x23cm: "Poppy 2"; I never tire of painting these flower-heads; they are so exhuberant and joyful and the way the petals flap about in the breeze there are endless permutations of how it looks. There were many more studies but I don't want to become boring talking about it, so I'll move on to my favourite Clematis:


Pastels on Ingres paper, 22x15cm: "The President"; That's the common name for a very uncommon and spectacular flower. I love it for it's dark, dark, purple/blue colouring - about the deepest shade I know in this variety of climber.

Finally while all this colour is rioting over on one side of the garden the Rhododendrons are quietly getting on with their own thing. This one in particular once was a hybrid variety with bright crimson flowers but over the years has grown much bigger and "reverted" to it's more natural state: Pastels on Ingres paper, 30x23cm: "Reverted Rhoddy"; Even with it's 'cooler' colours when seen en masse when you look right into the uppermost petal it has this bright orange flash with darker spotted reds and scarlet stamen. So it's not really that shy after all!

5 comments:

Lor Lor said...

Hi David
That's just what I was doing today. The sun was splitting the trees but the wind would cut you, so I was bundled up like an eskimo.
Your garden looks great, it's funny but most creative folk I've encountered have a passion for gardens.
The poppy drawings are lovely and loose, something I strive for.
And whats all this about reds and purples? Give a girl a chance, I'm just getting the hang of this pastel malarky!

daviddrawsandpaints said...

As you can see Lor Lor it would have to have been a very warm day indeed for me to expose my knees to the open air like this!
I love my garden and enjoy planting it up, then changing it all around when I think of something better. There is always so much to paint at every time of the year that I could never have to leave it for inspiration. It's good to get away now and again, tho', to see what else the world has to offer.
Thanks for your appreciation of my poppies and, really, the exaltations to use more red and purple is just a bit of devilment. You don't need to take me too seriously! Ha!
ps: your new pasteling is very good.

Brian McGurgan said...

Your garden looks like a wonderful place to sit, David. A little shade and a cool drink on a warm day and I'd be all set. Lovely flower drawings!

daviddrawsandpaints said...

Muchos graçias, Brian. Make mine a double!

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