Just to remind us that Spring is on its way.
A rather free interpretation of tulips in Pot Sunlight – the Lady Lever Gallery overlooks the garden leading to the rather splendid War Memorial.
The building itself is sketched in using shadows create its shape. It always surprised me how much of a likeness you can get just by painting a few shadows! Anything more detailed would overpower the flowers, the focus of the picture. Using blue helps to push the building back, as does the largely blue green of the trees.
The flowers themselves were indicated by a mid-toned pink wash across the page which was allowed to dry. Then I introduced solid shapes made in dark tones of Alizarin Crimson, some of them touch with blue, by pressing on the heel of the brush for each individual flower head. Bluey green leaves and stems, randomly connected to flower heads provide the foliage. There was an underplanting of forget-me-nots which I created by speckling blue paint using my finger running over an old toothbrush charged with a fairly thick paint.
This was something of an experiment at the time – an exercise in minimalism.