Serendipity

This one was painted for the YOP challenge over on the Painting Friends forum, where the reference for this month was a beautiful white rose (madmum on wetcanvas, thank you!)

Serendipity means a 'happy accident' or 'pleasant surprise'; specifically, the accident of finding something good or useful without looking for it. That's what happened here...


I wanted to have a go at doing something delicate, but that kind of went out of the window rather quickly, as I managed to paint a big beige mess. Then I decided to add in some shadows, which made things much, much worse. It was awful. It was heading for the bin, then I decided to see just how bad it could get if I got the pens out, and... well, I actually really like the end result! It is not subtle or delicate, which was my original goal, but I love the structural feel, and the ink coss-hatching reminds me a bit of copperplate etchings. 

So, unexpectedly, I'm actually quite pleased with it, and as a bonus I've discovered an approach to floral paintings that I would never have otherwise thought of.


4" by 6", watercolour and ink.