FROM GARDEN TO CUSTOM GIFT

After all these years of painting, I have my share of ups & downs, with the frustrations & uncertainty. This remains the best part of a creative life...the ability to create a bit of enchantment. To bring joy to someone's day!

MORE SUMMER INSPIRATIONS

Came to Photoshop very late in my career. It took forever to learn. Since then, I dont remember the last time I actually complete an illustration. By not fuzzing over one single painting which could take up to a month to finish, I can dream up many variations working with a few images.

It always starts with a sketch. This seaside cottage sketch came from Noank, CT.

The sky & water is from my archive. I've been painting forever, so there are tons of painting I can use.

I started this with watercolor, but the ethereal watercolor just can not express the colorful garden. An impressionist painting can come together pretty fast.

I then pulled some sailboats from another painting, just need to seperate it from the original.

Layer on a flag...

Viola! A new design for my Summer Collection. For someone who cant seem to stay focus on finishing a painting, the magic of photoshop is a real blessing.

RADIANT SUNRISE WITH OIL & PASTEL

We become painters at some deep level not out of a love of images. I think, at some point, we fall in love with our chosen medium. We seem to spend our lives trying to master it. 

Trying to express the blinding radiance of the morning sun with just yellow & green, oil turpentine on paper.

My current favorite is to use pastel over my oil sketch. Pastel is fast & gives me that bit of texture from the paper to convey the meadow.  

By brushing the pastel over with turpentine, I dont have to use any fixative.

SUMMER MORNING

Typical summer morning. A workout for my eyes.

Always something new to discover thru my window. Another up-close & intimate study after nature.

I have a lot of papers that are toned. This definitely speed up the sketching process. My window of opportunity is about half an hour before the fog gets burn off by the rising sun.

POPPY INSPIRATIONS

                                               From my first visit thru the English countryside, memory of endless meadows of wild poppy have always stayed with me. So when my rep mention that Poppy is trending, I drop everything & started some new ideas for a Poppy collection.

It's not a project I can wait, mainly because my neighbor, Etsuko's Poppy garden is in full bloom. For my illustration, finding the right reference is half the job. 

I've travel far & wide to visit famous gardens. I have yet to come across a Poppy garden that can match her Poppy collection. Here's a few pictures to inspire the gardener in you!