Siberian Iris

This is done mostly with Pablos (a few prismas, Derwent Studio & 1 Albrecht Durer dry) on Arches hot pressed watercolor paper. The size is approx. 9" x 5".

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boah, Gerry! That looks gorgeous. Great reflections, wonderful details on the petals. Love it! How did you do the background?

Thanks Iris. I've darkened the flower up a bit since I posted the picture, I always see things wrong with the pictures I do after I post them!! The veins on this Siberian Iris that I have in my yard are very dark over white, and the purple is just on the outer section of some of the petals. The iris you posted in the challenge section is quite different, the veins are more like just shadows!

I did the background in very light layers, first a green, then another green, I carried the purple from the flowers in the dark areas, and a yellow in some other areas. Then I brushed with a stiff bristle brush, then I lightly layered white prisma, then I darkened some more with the purple, and added another layer of green, and brushed again. I decided that the background was too dark, so I added a layer of light grey, brushed again, added another layer of green, and then the light grey again, then brushed to blend. The pablos blend very well on the smooth paper, and I also found that just a light layer of the white prisma really smoothed things out. I think the smooth paper works very well for florals, and maybe some other kinds of subjects where you don't want lots and lots of layers, but it wouldn't work for every kind of technique. I also found that the different brands of pencils layed on the paper very differently. I might try it again on a picture of two Indian ladies from a photo I took in India, I want to see how that goes. This picture went a lot faster for me than my others, because the pencils went down smoother with less layering.

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I love this Gerri!
Excellent work.

Thanks Andrea.

thanks Gerri for your great explanation. I sure took a lot of time. But the result is absolutely gorgeous.

Hey Gerri haven't heard from you for a long time, great job on the iris , take care, Lorrie

Hi Lorrie, thanks for the comment on the iris, an experiment with the pablos on watercolor paper.

I hadn't done anything for a while, I got busy after Xmas, and then I found it hard to get back into. How about you, have you been doing a lot of art?

I have tried a couple of things but with babysitting the little ones full time I just haven't been able to do anything much. Hope that changes soon cuz I am really missing it!!

Ahh...that explains why you haven't had time for new work!

Hi Gerri

This is absolutely lovely and the detailed explanation is good. It makes me want to get out my pencils right now!

Well thanks so much Ann.