Alison’s daffodils
Posted: May 11, 2026 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: bouquet, daffodils, flowers, watercolour 4 CommentsI am very grateful to my friend Alison. When she read that I couldn’t find daffodils at the store, she picked an amazing bouquet from her own garden and went out of her way to bring it to me. Alison is the best gardener that I know and she’s especially skilled at growing bulbs and spring flowers. Lucky me. My bouquet is far more interesting than what I would have picked up at a store.
Since it’s impossible to get dark values with yellow, I tried to get variety in colour temperature. I used all the yellows I have on my palette: Lemon Yellow (greenish and cool), Hansa Yellow Medium (a primary yellow, in the middle of the other two) and New Gamboge (a very orange yellow). For the orange edges of the centres of the flower, I added a bit of Quinacridone Coral. Painted in my sketchbook on Saunders Waterford paper, 10″ x 11″.
Not surprisingly, these are glorious! Love the soft background color with the yellow. Everyone needs an “ Allison” in their life who’s willing to come to the rescue with flowers-she shared hers, you shared your painting-everybody wins!
What a wonderful friend Alison is! These are gorgeous.
It is great to have special friends who anticipate what you need. This is really lovely! I like your combination of yellows and whites and the soft grey around the flowers.
Wouldn’t it be fun if our yearly painting calendar included special days just so everyone will sketch/ paint the same simple object. Imagine the mass consciousness – like starlings flicking — on Daffodil Day.