Magic in Purples & Greens

I've been painting wisteria lately. I have some lovely Daniel Smith purples and a new green and I wanted to use them all in a painting. This is at least my 5th or 6th wisteria painting and I'm working on another that's even larger.

This painting was created intuitively by squeezing color on the paper and washing it down in very loose washes. This is the fun part with no pressure, just lots of color! When the painting dries then comes the design. Where should the flowers be? Where should the leaves be? Is everything interesting? Does it work? This part of the painting process takes thought and confidence. The last step of this piece was the addition of tinted white gouache for the lovely sun sparkles. I'm very pleased with the result!

This piece is painted on a 1/2 sheet of Shizen paper that I tore instead of cut, so that the edge blends in with the other deckle edges. Since the paper is handmade it's not perfectly straight but it works well with a mat. The paper is rough press and the texture really adds to the piece.

"Magic in Purples & Greens" • Original watercolor and gouache on 100% cotton paper • 15" x 22"

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