Join the Poppy Challenge!

Happy Monday, my friend! I hope that you enjoyed the weekend. It was rather quiet here, as my back is still an ongoing issue.  I did see a physiotherapist on Friday, but he couldn’t do much for me, as I’m still in pain. So some gentle stretching & then the fun ‘pulse’ machine on my back, to relax the muscles. I go back again this afternoon, and again on Wednesday. And, after a big mix-up, I finally got some anti-inflammatory pills from my doctor. (don’t ask! it’s just frustrating, and not funny).  Anyway, I spent a bit of time on Sunday working on some watercolour painting on Yupo. I mentioned before about a challenge involving poppies on Yupo; I hope  you’ll join the poppy challenge with me!

POPPY CHALLENGE

The challenge is being hosted by Sandy Sandy, on her Learn, Love, Create with Sandy site HERE.  To be entered, you must submit 10-12 mini poppy paintings on Yupo in either watercolour or alcohol inks. Each piece is to measure 2 1/2″ x 3 1/2″ (or 3 3/4″).  Full details of how to enter, hashtags to use and the awesome prizes for 1st, 2nd & 3rd place are HERE on her site.  Scroll down 2/3rds on the page to see all of the details.

I worked on 2 more poppies, both done in Daniel Smith watercolour paints, on Yupo. My back is still very sore, and I could feel it in my work. So, these may just be practice pieces, and not included in my final submission for the challenge.  Tell me what  you think!

PINK  POPPY

I did one using Quinacridone Rose as the main colour.

I’m not too excited about this one, unfortunately. Some parts I like, others I just don’t.  The background is a combination of blue and green brushed onto the Yupo. For the flower, I used Quin. Rose, varying the layers to get some depth and shadows. In some areas, I lifted off the paint to create a lighter area, that isn’t stark white. Do you think I should do some outlining on this flower? I left that off, simply because I couldn’t decide, and my back was hurting!

YELLOW POPPY

For this poppy, a combination of Cadmium Yellow, Hansa Yellow and Quinacridone Gold is used.

I even added a bit of Buff Titanium for the shaded areas.  As with the pink poppy, the reference photo is above my painted poppy.  The greens used in both paintings are Cascade Green, and Green Apatite.

The background for this poppy was created by first lightly wetting a paper towel. Next scrunch up the paper towel, and pick  up some Cerulean Blue paint. Next, apply the paint to the background, using a pouncing motion.  I’m a bit  happier with this one, than the pink one.

Again, I didn’t do any outlining. I think I may have to, simply to ‘cover up’ my pencil sketching on the petals! They don’t disappear into the yellow with the lighter colour paint.

WHAT MEDIUM DO YOU PREFER?

Do you like working in watercolour, alcohol ink, or regular inks? I think I’m going to re-do these same poppies on Yupo, but this time in alcohol inks. I know they’ll look quite different, so I’ll show you when I’m done! I’d love to hear what you think about these 2 pieces. Practice, or submit? The deadline for submitting is September 1st, so I have a while yet to keep playing & practicing. I hope you’ll join the poppy challenge with me – if you do, I’d love to see your work!

#yupowithsandy #legionpaper #poppychallenge