Day 3: Don’t Leaf yet, I just got started!
Here is Day 3 of BB’s 30 Day Leaf Challenge. I hope to find more interesting leaves for the future, with more cool colors as fall blooms before our eyes.
Neocolor II + ink on top and Cotman travel watercolor palette + ink below. I’m going to try and find some reddish or yellowish leaves……not really seeing any yet. I probably need to open my eyes more. We could all notice the things in front of us a little more. Art is a wonderful blessing that way. I hope to roll out a small art quilt for you this weekend. It’s coming together!
< Draw A Bird Day recap, September style!
Gorgeous! Autumn is such a time of riches.
Boy, what a great way to say it. Thank you, Michael.
Your leaves are beautiful and so realistic. Lovely shadows and contours.
I feel I can really improve them, but I’m enjoying the journey. Staring at a leaf is a mesmerizing experience. We walk over them every day, and how many do we really see? It’s been quite a project.
The leaves on the ground around here are mostly brown too. A friend told me it’s because we had all those weeks without much rain. Hopefully now that we’ve had a few wet days the colors will come.
Thanks, Kerfe. Oddly, I went out back last night and found several very colorful leaves! You don’t really see them in the trees – mostly green or brown on the ground, but I was amazed at how those yellows, oranges and reds really stood out.
They came to your silent call.
I’m not leafing. Loving your play on words funny girl! Happy Friday ! Dance in the leaves.
Thank you, Catherine! It is a really fun project!
Wow! those look so real!! well done!
Thank you so much, Sue! I’ve actually been surprised – these aren’t that hard to do. I’ve always loved trees and leaves, which makes it fun.
Awww….Thank you, Tom! I just need a little crown! Ooh, a crown of leaves! 😀 So sweet, thanks!
Thank you, Teresa! Yeah, I may be ready for a change by then. Who knows, though, look how long I’ve been doing roses lol.
Going where the spirit leads is a good way to do it! There are days when I can only draw portraits, or only squirrels, or… 🙂 I find that I can’t make myself do art that I don’t feel that day.
You go girl…Your leaves are awesome. Don’t rake the leaves, draw them!
Glad you are in love :-).
I think these are great! Will you do something with these daily leaves once the challenge is done?
Thanks, Kari! They are all in my art journal, but you raise a great question. I’m thinking about taking leaves to my art quilts, so from that perspective….who knows, maybe I’ll do one of my leaf paintings on fabric. I’ve not been able to get lots of detail on fabric, but you never know….. What would you do if you had a leaf collection? Have you tried drawing any?
I was thinking to create a collage? Frame them? They are so pretty they should be displayed.
Awww. Kari, you’re so sweet. Thank you. That’s a really good idea. A leaf collage would look so natural, too!
Wow, thanks Ann! 😀 Oh, I hope my little quilt will be ready. Wait til you see how small it is and how much time it took. Lord, have mercy. lol. Mostly it is the decisions that take the most time!
Fantastic – check out those shadows and crispness of the dry leaves!
Thanks, Mary! I’m having a blast with these. Have you ever worked with leaves?
To a certain extent within a landscape scene in my paintings and did piece that was just of a tree (under About, see tree challenge), but not macro. I definitely like what you’ve done here and will enjoy the whole series during this month.
Your trees are gorgeous, Mary! I know I’ve admired some of them in the recent past. I’m glad you’re enjoying my leaves – a much easier subject!
So deliciously fun! Love the curl up of your leaves, they are perfect. Oh, and isn’t it strange that here the dead leaves are what we find before the beautiful colored leaves, and not the other way around?! The two chestnut trees in the yard have been delivering me deep lovely deep red leaves… along with some yellow and green. They are a delight to collect and my art table has been feeling up with so many leaves!
Thanks!! I was amazed last night when I actually looked in my own backyard (vs. going to a trail at the park), how many gorgeous colors I actually found among all the brown ones! When I laid them out on the kitchen counter, it was quite a collection!! I know what you mean!!
I love how Fall comes into the studio, and brightens up our homes!
Thank you so much, Jill! It does sound just like a country song lol! I really am loving these leaves. I may be more amazed by leaves than flowers, and that’s saying something!
Your leaves are beautiful, so natural and lifelike. Mine are very laboured and taking me forever to do…..I need a lesson in painting. Heading over to YouTube later to get some tips!
Karen, just try and get the essence down would be my suggestion. In pen or pencil first, and then for me, I go in wet in wet with the color, which really allows watercolor to do what it does best. It’s the perfect medium to capture the texture and color of leaves if you just let it flow. Go easy on the paint. I’ve been using mostly pan paints, which helps, but you could use tube paint and just go very light. I sometimes have to let the first layer dry and go back in to get the color intensity, but I do work hard at staying loose and free and trying not to be too detailed. I do think that drawing and painting flowers for many many days last summer helped a lot with this exercise. You could really hate flowers if you tried to get every petal. So I decided to get the essence of that flower, and those paintings were much more successful. My two cents. If you find any great YouTube’s, I’d be thrilled to hear about them!
Hi Karen – I just saw your horse chestnut leaf and will go over and make a comment under that post.
Great images again Laura. Can’t wait to see the yellow and red ones.
Thanks, Denis! I hope you and your dog are doing ok; I’ve been thinking about you both.
Love the title!! you can make the leaves whatever color you want. go to TOWN! jes sayin…. make puddles of three fall colors you love, add a smallish puddle of dark blue in it….to see the glory of how it works with oranges… and mingle them on the page in the leaf shape. paint a portion of the leaf in one, switch to another WITHOUT rinsing your brush, and watch the two colors mingle on the page. Do it again without rinsing a third time. add a touch of blue here and there. voila!
Rachel, thank you! You make a great point. I think I’m trying to paint the actual leaf because it’s a new subject for me, but if I were making an art quilt or making a painting to sell (ha!), I would definitely make the colors as interesting as I possibly could! I’ve since found some colorful leaves and I’ve learned that painting the yellows and reds of fall is quite challenging! What colors do you typically use when painting fall foliage?