Painting peonies

         I love to paint flowers from life and peonies are one of my favorites. Not only do they smell nice but they are so lovely- delicate and complicated at the same time. For the past 2 or 3 years I have been painting paintings of these lovely flowers because they are such a challenge. I had decided that every year I would paint at least one painting of peonies.

if you paint them in full bloom- there are many petals with which to involve oneself as well as their delicate coloring. The pink ones especially have petals that are such a light pink they are almost grey in some places but they are a deeper color in the centers. The next decision is how precise to paint them- do you paint every petal or do you leave some to the imagination which this year I have decided to do.

this is this year's attempt- also in pastel but decided to handle it in a looser style
i am happy with the way this one is turning out- it has the looser feel i was looking for

this is my attempt 2 years ago - as you can see more formal 

My First attempt is really rather formal. I rather like those  The Old Masters paintings spilling out of niches and besides I wanted to paint my Mother's vase. It is rather a formal gilded french vase. This is a pastel on pastel mat paper- a lovely french paper that  feels like suede but is really tough.