Day 21. 4 x 6 in. watercolor and acrylic on 140 lb. Arches cold pressed paper. © 2016 Sheila Delgado

I have worked in a square format for most of this month. I need to have some postcards ready for LYA by March, so this one is postcard sized. I don’t know if I mentioned it before, but you can take part even if you don’t paint. If your art is making jewelry, quilling, or felting, knitting… sculpting. All you need is a photo of one of your creations.

I started this with the petals in acrylic. The rest is in watercolor.

Good Morning starshine!

Day 18

Day 18 rework close-up.

Today was a day for reworking several pieces. I had put off fixing my piece for day 18. I was afraid of ruining it. And I did. But then I fixed it.

I went back into the background, and the plan was to darken it on the left so the flowers would stand out more. I added more color. When it dried I tried to get an interesting bloom (added water to the area). I wanted to keep the bloom originally on the top. Well, it just ended up looking messy. Yuck.

I let that sit for a day, before I had the nerve to try again. I knew what I had to do. Re-wet the entire background. I started on the bottom right and worked my way around to the bottom on the left. I let it dry, and then added clean water, to get a couple of blooms.

Day 18 Final redo. 8 x 8 in. watercolor on gesso board. © 2016 Sheila Delgado

Because I did not add more color, the blooms are softer edged. I like both the original blooms, and the last. These blooms are not very noticeable from a distance. I am happy with the result.

Bookmarks

WIP, centers are gone.

I was in a hurry to get yesterdays post written, and I forgot to mention why I am working on the bookmarks. UPPERCASE is asking for submissions for Issue 29. Wouldn’t it be cool to be chosen? Needless to say, only the best will do.

That is why I was being so hard on myself. I reworked both of the bookmarks. I scrubbed out the centers. Later, I also added some color to the one I thought was too light. And to the darker one, I re-wet the entire area to soften, and blend. I softened the petals just a little as well.

Bookmark #1 redo. Watercolor and pen on paper. © 2016 Sheila Delgado

Bookmark #2 redo. Watercolor and pen on paper. © 2016 Sheila Delgado

I am much happier with both of them now. Even so, I am going to do a few more before I decide. Only one submission is allowed per person.

If you look back at the previous post, you will see that the centers for each flower were quite different. Now both flowers on each bookmark relate better.

I just had more fun with these, which I think makes a huge difference. I was stifled by my desire for them to be really good, and to me, it showed.