Chapter 3, part 2

this is a continuation of chapter 3 manipulating digital images. to recap i have chosen to concentrate on tulip/s. the above shows one tulip's petals after they have fallen and i photographed them laid in a circle.
the following 3 show how it can be manipulated using 'Photoshop Elements 7' i am still a novice but am getting to grips with changing colour and form and i tend to do things and then can't remember what i have done!! but i know the top one i have used a 'pinch' button.
above using glow edges and distort.
above changing the hue/saturation and twirl. i could have gone on for ages but thought i had better stop and work on some drawing/painting.
before i chose which flower to concentrate on i took myself into the garden with my watercolours and looked at various flowers we have growing. this was a perfect time of year to start this study, although the UK is suffering from an early spring so i got the end of the tulips. in fact the last bunch in the shop! #1 shows our abundance of dandelions, we must be quite rare in the gardening world in that we actually like dandelions and daisies growing on our lawn! and after about 10 years here we finally had our first daisy and now some speedwell!
#2 shows Spanish bluebells and lizieanthus but i was keen to choose a flower that would have been encountered in 17th century embroidery so i eventually chose tulips which i love. i got rather carried away hence there are so many!!
#3 basic water colour washes on A3 paper
#4 as #3
#5 as 3 and 4 but a bit more wishy washy
#6 i then moved onto chalk in my A5 sketchpad
the next 2 although not numbered are worked on an A4 black papered sketchbook. i love the way the chalks really come alive on black.

#8 back to A3 using a mixture of Markal oil sticks and chalks
#9 using a brush pen (A5)
#10 i sacrificed one tulip and got out the favourite spray paint!
#11 i worked with the tulips through the whole of their life!! so the rest are based on 'dead' tulips! #11 watercolour
#12 and #13 watercolour although #13 worked with a stick and brush.

#14 and 15 are back to chalk (A5)
the above one i used a white chinagraph crayon to draw with. its amazing how a dead dried tulip can look like a courgette flower! i know i have concentrated on the whole flower but i just loved the shapes they made!