Botanical/Floral Challenge - April/May 2026

[LizC]

Wow Sanlynn, that looks excellent! Love the color harmony

 

[TK H-H]

Very nice! The piece feels more "moody" with the dark background. It turned out great!

 

[Sanlynn]

Thanks all!

 

[Grapes]

Anne, love your delicate white flower!

Sanlynn, you have old master's touch and light in your flower painting!

 

[Kristen2026]

And last, but not least...

Some of the trees that inspired this Challenge in the first place:

View attachment 54388
* Photographed January 2025 (myself)

View attachment 54389
* Photographed February 2026 (myself)

That's all of them for this Challenge.

Have fun!

Outstanding photos.

 

[Kristen2026]

I tried the first one. I wanted to experiment with a white flower on Arches cp.

Inktense on Arches hp, 5"x7".

View attachment 54499

Beautiful.

 

[Kristen2026]

I felt like going a lot darker with this reference. Mixed media attempt with gouache and pastels on a rough paper, 5X8".
View attachment 54718

The dark contrast really makes the petals glow. Very nice.

 

[ams]

I decided to do another one. I painted this from my cell phone this morning at Art Class and it displayed much bluer than on my laptop so that's how I painted it.

5"x7" in Bee WC Journal

One thing I notice about painting on this paper (which is 100% cotton cold press), is that the edges are not as crisp the way they would be on XL Mixed Media or Hot press but I like the way I can do blending. Every paper seems to have it's strengths and weaknesses.

 

[Kristen2026]

Well done. I like it with the blue. It adds a lot of depth. The subtle shading is just the right amount to accent depth as well.

 

[Sanlynn]

This is very beautiful. I like the blue tinge in the pedals. Nicely done.

 

[ams]

Thanks Kristen and Sanlynn. I love to paint magnolias.

 

[TK H-H]

Lovely colors in that last one. I like the variety of cool colors in the shadows.

Goodness... I feel awful I haven't participated in my own challenge yet. Life got so busy! Hoping I can put something together soon here. Probably a pastel. Actually got a new set not long ago that I really need to try out!