Couldn't Resist

 

Dahlia in Golden Gate Park
10" x 10" watercolor
Arches 100% cotton cold press

I couldn't resist adding just one more dark background layer to the painting featured in the previous post. I think it helps the lighter areas pop just a bit more...but I have miles to go before I am even close to channeling Marney Ward. 

And maybe there's only one Marney Ward out there, though Cara Brown's style is similar. Such beautiful transparency and luminescence from both artists. I'll never be as painstakingly realistic with my paintings--I don't have the patience. But if I could achieve that luminescence once in a while, that would be something.