Monday, May 19, 2008

Egret At Magnolia Gardens


Egret At Magnolia Gardens
Originally uploaded by linfrye
While walking through Magnolia Gardens a number of weeks, ago, we spied this glorious egret getting ready to pounce on a bit of dinner. We quietly snapped photographs and thought what a neat painting it would make.

I took most of the day yesterday to give this a try. I had masked the egret and the grasses wonderfully -- and had painted almost everything. When I uncovered the egret, the masking turned the paper yellow (Arches 140 cp/masquepen) .... I tried to scrub out the yellow -- but it didn't work. Talk about being crestfallen!! So I painted the egret in watercolors, and then added a bit of gouache for the highlights.

It's back to work again -- another busy week -- first day of summer session, a tour with 15 folks to a distant garden, dinner with a friend I hadn't seen in a while, and those ever-present reports!

Have a great week!

(Done on a quarte sheet Arches #140cp)

PS -- The foliage colors are those you suggested, Keith!

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh my how discouraging but your painting came out great. We'd never known if you hadn't told us and I certainly can't see anything that's not perfect. The detail in your painting is incredible. I am still amazed at how you can capture such diverse scenes and individual elements -- just amazing! The sign of a very talented painter.
Hugs,
Lorraine

Teri said...

Your play of light and shadows is just beautiful. What a peaceful scene!

Joan said...

Lin - This one is so good!!!! I can tell you really spent a lot of time on the foliage in this. Excellent!!!! I love how the egret turned out even if you did him a little differently than you planned. IT WORKED!!!

Anonymous said...

I salute you on such an ambitious undertaking and it turned out so marvelously well.

Tami said...

Lin, this is AMAZING! The colors and light and shadow in the forest are spectacular! Great save on that Egret, too!

Penny said...

Dropped in to see your beautiful paintings Lin, wonderful and so peaceful. Love them and now I am home must call in more often.

Evidence of an Artistic Life said...

Turned out beautiful!
hugs, chris

Anonymous said...

Truly stunning! Great composition and fore/mid/background. I hope you'll frame it!

Anonymous said...

Absolutely stunning! I love the way you capture light in your paintings. They just seem to glow. Sorry to hear about the stupid yellow from the masking fluid. I use white fluid for that reason. Never tried the masquepen though. I looked at the full size image on flickr and could see no problems or stains.

I've heard that Magic Eraser (a laundry and housecleaning product) works very well to lift stains on watercolor paper without harming the paper. I bought some but haven't tried it yet.

Marilyn said...

Lin, this is just as beautiful as my photograph of my garden. It's very serene and tranquil. I'm amazed at how you capture such detail in watercolors.