This wasn't what I had planned to paint today, but by the time I got around to it, I didn't have the sustained attention to do the portrait I had lined up. So instead I painted these geraniums in a blue pot.
I don't know why it's so challenging to paint without a drawing—it's not that I can't see and paint the actual dimensions, because I can, but for some reason it feels unfinished, even if my base drawing were to be in pencil rather than in pen as is my usual style.
This one felt so "dauby" (as opposed to Dobbie) that I finally ended up pulling some of the color out with water to soften the silhouette all around it. I don't know whether I like it or it was a colossal mistake. I only did it with the green, and the red blossoms are sitting "above the cloud" in some instances. This is about as close as I get to a wetter-looking painting, since I have not to date mastered the idea of wet-in-wet watercolor.
I also didn't manage to capture either the shiny ceramic of the jar or the feel of the metallic plant stand upon which it sat. So, it's feeling like amateur hour all around. Tomorrow, a better painting.
Paul Jackson and M. Graham paints in Bee sketchbook.
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