Pink Azaleas and Hummingbird oil painting

I enjoy seeing the hummingbirds buzzing around in my garden. They love the deep pink azaleas in May. Even though I don't have hummingbird feeders out, they seem to find flowers they like all summer long. In this painting, I've painted a ruby throat enjoying the blossoms. The oils were wonderful for painting these rose pink azaleas.

• The original has been sold, but check for more of my bird art in my Etsy shop, JanetZeh.Etsy.com. Thanks and have a beautiful day!

Pansies and Blue Butterfly watercolor painting

Pansies again! I just love these bright little flowers with their happy faces nodding in the spring breezes. The new palette is perfect for them. A soft blue butterfly flits about among the blossoms.

• This 5"x7" watercolor painting is done using a palette of three colors: rose red, yellow and deep blue. The original is sold, but you can find more of my small watercolor flower paintings at JanetZeh.Etsy.com. Thanks for stopping by and have a lovely day!

Rhododendron and Butterfly Flower Painting Demonstration

Today I was working in my garden which is humming with bees and butterflies flitting about. A tiger swallowtail was especially interested in my rhododendron which is in bloom. This would make a nice painting especially because it was in dappled sunlight. So, let's paint it!

I have been working on highly detailed pet portraits and botanicals a lot lately and want to loosen up and just have some fun. So I decided to do this one with wet washes, not worrying much about detail.

The entire first layer of paint is done wet-into-wet, meaning I wet the paper first in sections and then drop the color into it letting the paint flow as it will. I am using a palette of three colors: bright yellow, deep blue and rose red.

Purple Columbine Flowers & Hummingbird

With the lovely weather we've been having the last few days, I took my palette outdoors and sat down on some stone steps to paint the purple columbine flowers blooming in my garden. While quietly painting, I heard the buzzing of what sounded like a gigantic bee. And there it was, a ruby-throated hummingbird which visits these flowers daily while they are in bloom. As he flew from flower to flower, I added him to the painting. Perfect!

• The original has been sold, but check for more of my bird art in my Etsy shop, JanetZeh.Etsy.com. Thanks and have a beautiful day!

Pink Azaleas Botanical Painting

Even though a late frost damaged many of the blossoms on my azalea shrubs, there were many that survived near the ground. So before those were gone too, I picked some to do this painting.

We call them azaleas, but botanically they are Rhododendron.

• This 5"x7" painting is done from the live plant using mostly watercolor, but a bit of colored pencil in the details.  You can see my botanical prints at Prints.ZehOriginalArt.com in the botanical section. Thanks for stopping by. Have a lovely day!

Pansies Watercolor Painting

These pansies remind me of sherbert with their peach and grape color. I've used my three color palette of one red, one yellow and one blue but with a slight change - I've used a cool rose red rather than the warm bright red that I've been using. This makes a more true shade of purple for the petals. This will be a good Spring and Summer palette saving the brighter red for when the leaves fall in autumn.

• This original watercolor painting has been sold, but more of my small watercolor flower paintings can be seen in Zeh Original Art Etsy shop. Have a great weekend and thanks for stopping by!

Lilacs in a Blue Vase oil painting demonstration

Welcome to my studio for a demonstration of an oil painting of flowers. I've just picked some fresh lilacs from the garden and put them in my favorite blue glass vase. Lilacs are a favorite flower of mine, so perhaps I'll add another favorite to this painting - some lace.

In the above image you see the lilacs I've picked on the left and the painting that I've begun on a 12"x 9" panel. I use Ampersand gessoboard because it's archival and has a brilliant white surface perfect for beautiful colors.

The background is painted a soft color mixed from yellow, blue and white. I may lighten or warm this later, but this is fine for now.

Yellow Azaleas watercolor painting

Pretty golden azaleas from a friend's garden were something I just had to paint! Azaleas are blooming spectacularly here this year considering it's New England. Even my pink and deep rose shrubs are full of blooms. Generally the cold weather is too much for them. But we had a milder winter this year.

This piece is painted with the three-color palette that I've been using. I've found it works better for some subjects than others depending on the colors one wants to use. The yellow azaleas with a soft blue background are perfect for it!

Check my Etsy shop for Azalea paintings or prints.

Dicentra - Bleeding Hearts Botanical Painting

My dicentra is blooming right now in the shade garden and is so pretty.

This time of year is perfect to paint botanicals as they should be done from the live plant, not a photograph. There are so many flowers blooming right now that there are plenty to paint. I enjoyed painting these bleeding hearts with their bright pink color. To the left are some I used as reference for this painting.

• This botanical watercolor painting is actually a mix of a watercolor base and a bit of colored pencil for highlights and detail. It is size 5"x7". You can get this painting or print at Shop.ZehOriginalArt.com in the botanical section. I hope you have a lovely day!