Bumble Bee Pollinating Discovery Bay Rhododendron

I've been working on this painting on and off since November 27, 2013. The biggest challenge in  painting in a realistic style is the time commitment. Realistic paintings progress very slowly. 

I used Prisma Color pencils with a colored pencil blender pen to give the painting a "wet" look. I saved the best for last...yesterday I painted in the bumble bee in the middle of the rhodie bloom. That was the cherry on top of the whip cream. 

I draw and paint so much for public consumption and almost not at all for decorating the walls of our house. So this will be framed and will hang in our family room. The actual purpose of the painting is to enhance my Painting in Paradise web site. 

My Painting in Paradise workshops allow people the opportunity to travel to an exotic South Pacific destination, the island of Rarotonga in the Cook Islands. There I teach participants how to paint exotic tropical flowers in a realistic style. It is truly a painter's paradise holiday. You can get more details in the link in the above paragraph.

Have you seen my other blog, The Trowbridge Chronicles? 

Discovery Bay Rhododendron

This past spring while traveling along Highway 101 just west of Discovery Bay, Washington, I stopped to photograph the wild rhododendrons growing in abundance along the highway. I wanted to use them as reference for a future rhododendron painting. I have just begun a painting of one of my favorite rhodies among all the photos that I took that day. Above is the initial pencil layout.

It was hard to decide which media to use. I'm always tempted to do my flower paintings in Photoshop, with my Wacom Cintiq because it's so quick and easy. But the problem with painting in Photoshop is that there is no original art to display, and I wanted this painting to hang on our wall. Hanging a color copy as opposed to the original just isn't the same. I also like working on the move, and watercolors don't lend themselves to working at Starbucks. So I chose blended colored pencils. Check back soon to see my progress. The next post will show the image partially painted in.

If you'd like to see some of my finished flower paintings, this is my flower web site, Painting in Paradise. If you'd like to join us in our next flower painting expedition, there are details on the web site. The location is the exotic island of Rarotonga, located in the South Pacific Ocean.