Japanese cherry - blossoms

 

Last weekend we were walking near our home and the Japanese cherry (Prunus serrulata) trees that are growing on the side of the streets were having an abundance of blossoms. My husband offered to hold one branch for me so I could make a reference picture for a painting (there was a lot of wind and holding the branch still for the picture really helped).

For this painting I selected a rose colour that is perfect for flower paintings and because of that I rarely use it. With the help of some other colours I tried to make a loose painting of the blossoms and leaves that were in the reference picture.

The technique of flower painting is one I need to practise a bit more but I really like the result I got with this painting.

The information about the materials I have used, the size and availability of this watercolour painting and my contact information can all be found in my Tumblr blog.

Contact me if you are interested in my original artwork.

This tree is almost in bloom!

There were a lot of trees with flower buds that were not yet opened when we were in the 'Von Gimborn Arboretum' or Tree Museum. One of these was the Prunus serrulata 'Pink Perfection',  a tree that has a Dutch name which translates as 'Japanese cherry'.
Of course I have made some reference pictures, only to find that the camera had made all the branches sharp and most of the flower buds a bit blurry.
So I have tried to make the best of it with this watercolour painting.

The background was a tangle of branches with some light spots, some green and some pink spots where more flower buds were. I have tried to paint the branches - not all of them of course - by suggesting most of them and painting some of the ones that were most dominant in my reference pictures. 
In fact it was not really possible to see where all the branches were beginning and ending, even if I compared all my references. So I gave up the idea of an exact reproduction of the scene and opted for suggestion.

More information about this watercolour painting (materials used, size, availability, etc) can be found at my website www.jannekesatelier.webs.com