Tulip Tree Blooms

 

I love painting the delicate petals of our tulip tree as they lift upward on the branch - so lovely they are!  We are expecting heavy rains tonight through Sunday, so many of these blooms will fall.  This time of year is beautiful in the garden, and I can hardly wait to see what opens up next!  Painting number 5156 in 5156 days. 

Tulip Tree Blooms

This tulip tree was a Mother's day gift years ago - and I LOVE painting it each spring as it grows and bursts with blooms!  I started with an ink sketch with an extra fine nib - rare for me, but I'm learning to add it to the mix.  More often than not, I am using a medium or even a broad nib, for my ink work.  Next, I added watercolor to the masses.  I realized today that I haven't used my gouache set in a while, so I even added a little gouache for extra chroma.  It is relatively new to me, and I had forgotten about it for months.  Well, it is now back in rotation for the spring!  Painting number 3751 in 3751 days. 

Magnolia and Pear

Oh how I love painting the flowering trees of spring!  After today's rain, the trees are absolutely shining!  I'm using my Richeson palette today and loading it up for this weekend's event while I'm at it.  I spent some time earlier getting frames and panels ready, one of those chores best done when the outdoors isn't calling me!  I'm using a 6x8 masonite panel, which I love.  I've been using quite a bit of canvas lately, and I'm so happy to return to my favorite surface. I hope I get enough time to fully capture the beauty of these trees before the blossoms fly away!  Painting number 3012 in 3012 days. 

Magnolia Chickadees

I love when my tulip magnolia tree starts blushing pink with blooms!  This beauty was a Mother's Day gift years ago from my little darlings, and each year when it blooms I remember that fondly.  I love the connections so many of my flowers and trees have with loved ones, on this earth and not.  Each bloom brings back the memories of those days.  I'm painting in oil on this rainy day, and a sudden rain shower tossed the blooms a bit, changing my composition.  They will brighten again tomorrow, and I might just paint this tree in front of the flowering pear behind it, more from a distance. In between rain, I finished this painting while the birds flew in and out of it's branches.  I enjoy painting to their birdsong!  Painting number 3011 in 3011 days.

 

Tulip Tree

Early this month, my tulip tree was in full bloom. After two heavy frosts and a hard freeze, I thought this season's blooms were over.  The blackened blooms fell off, and so many buds were still emerging from this tree!  It is now heavier laden than it was before, with no end in sight!  I hope to sketch these blooms often, to gain a complete understanding of their cup shaped blooms while I still can.  Like every other blooming tree, once they are finished it is another year before they return.  Painting number 2669 in 2669 days.