Practice, lots of practice. There is really no substitute for practice. I have been working on preliminary paintings of flowers as I prepare to work on another series of paintings. For whatever reason (are perhaps in a fit of madness) I am planning to work on a series of flower paintings. Hmmm, this seemed like a great idea until I started working on my preliminary paintings. Flowers are proving so much more challenging than I thought. Ugh.

I may need to work on a few more preliminary paintings before I get close to the painting I have in my mind. Lovely loose flowers … combined with my love of whimsy … that’s my plan (in my mind at least!).

Here are some of my preliminary paintings …