Colour from the season - Lily cream

I think the reason I'm attracted to draw dead plants and flowers is just because I like muted hues. It's a huge generalisation, but I think I'm less attracted to saturated colours.

These Lilies had died in a vase (before opening) last week at a friends house when I was there for a birthday dinner and so luckily, (because she is as creatively untidy as I am!), we were able to appreciate how strangely beautiful these flowers had become, withered as they were on their stems – a sort of fallen ethereal glory of faded blue green leaves, ancient ochred pods and burnt orange pollen.

Decided in a rash moment (forgetting how pollen can stain!) to bring these home to draw...

the Lilies at Elaine's on Clare's b'day..!

...from my seasonal colour sample notebook.

Colours from the Season - Rocket cream

Rocket is flowering in the garden – is that seasonal? seems a bit early to me. The flowers have a straggly fragile beauty - pretty in salads, despite the fact the petals could be likened to the wings of Crane Flies.

I live with the colours of Rocket in my kitchen, so maybe thats what drew its quiet presence to my notice...

...from my seasonal colour sample notebook.

Colour from the season - Snakes Head red

I recently had a very stern telling off from my paternal aunt who lives in India for wearing my dad's old specs (crikey!!). She said that I should no more wear someone else's spectacles than use their toothbrush!

Nothing else really to do then after that (!) except head off to the opticians. First stop was at a well known high street chain to see if they could repair my dad's ancient specs (two broken arms) and put prescription lenses in? I think they thought I was off my trolley.

So, without much hope I went to the local independent opticians in the small market town where I live and while they thought the specs almost beyond repair, they said that they'd send them off and see what could be done – and now, brilliantly, and not expensively, the specs are as good as new and I can see to draw again! (my eyes aren't that bad, but even to lose a small amount of clarity I've been finding has meant drawing has become more difficult as well as tiring).

Snakes Head Fritillary (Fritillaria meleagris) have a honeycomb/check on their petals that has something of the bleed effect of tie-dyed fabric. Muted purple petals, a vivid flash of yellow from the stamen, alongside a rather splendid shade of stem green and I can see that quite clearly...

...from my seasonal colour sample notebook.

Colour from the Season - Spring blues

Re-categorising and up-dating a few colour pages from the archive and thought I'd share. A few Spring blues, but not sad - very cheerful in fact! 

Muscari or Grape Hyacinth...

Hyacinth...

Mountain Cornflower...

and my favourite, Bluebell blues...

Original posts can now be found in the category...BLUE!

...from my seasonal colour notebook.

Colour from the season - Duck Egg green

Spring arrived yesterday – only for the day, but what a day!

Our neighbour has (what I think are) Black Indian Runner Ducks and this morning she gave us some eggs. Wow! Duck Egg blue, or green as it turned out because the egg has more yellow than blue as well as a percentage of black.

I thought it would be a simple notebook page, one egg and one colour, but no, an egg is not an easy thing to draw..!

Distracted lately because at last I've started some new designs for fabric, in their infancy, they've been buzzing around in my head for a few months. Inspired by the Ivy, Roses, the block repeat post...

...from my seasonal colour sample notebook.