I took this picture in a parking lot the other day.

Morning Glory
Digital Phone Photograph

I love the transition from white to pink to purple to blue. I am particularly fond of the color change from blue to purple.

Today’s watercolor experiment:

In a previous experiment I journaled my verbal thoughts as I went about painting: from initial idea to the point at which I stopped painting.   Today’s process was a little different.

Process:

I had the flower in mind as I started painting, but I concentrated on the color transition. Below is the first stage of my painting, in which I made a transition from white at the center to blue at the edges, with quinacridone purple in between.

Morning Glory Stage 1

The suggestion of the flower petals was an afterthought, as you can see from the residual blue wash surrounding the blue/purple mix.  I did not refer back to the original photograph.

I was struck by the 5-sided star emerging in parallel rays from the gray ring at the center of flower. Two of the rays are almost hidden in shadow. Inside the gray ring is a white luminescent shape that is the very center of the flower.

For the second stage of this study, I used a narrow, stiff sponge, called an ‘elephant ear’, slightly wetted, to remove paint to make the lighter shades of color that form the rays.

Morning Glory Stage 2

Also, at this point I re-enforced the dark blue of shadows.

Finally, I touched up the shadows of the flowers and painted a background of quinacridone gold, using a wet brush on dry paper. Referring back to the photograph, I noticed green in the background. I painted over the gold with Hooker’s green, lopping off some of the edges of the flower to conform, more or less, to the shape seen in the photograph.

Morning Glory Watercolor Study
9″x12″ 140# Cold Pressed Watercolor Block

Comment:

I didn’t have much of a verbal conversation with myself in this experiment. I mainly painted from one goal to another. For instance, in one painting episode I would concentrate on the tones of shadows; another episode would see me concentrating on shapes, and so on.

As this method resulted in a complete painting, I think it is the best way for me to proceed.