Tulips in Bloom

Pink Tulip in Bloom, 2021

 watercolor pencil

13 cm x 17.5 cm

Yellow Tulips in Bloom, 2021

watercolor pencil

13 cm x 17.5 cm

I am so blessed to live in this beautiful wilderness. Simply stepping outside, it’s hard not to be inspired when I am surrounded by God’s stunning art work. I know that God’s art is all around us, all the time, but there is something about the spring and summer months that just makes it impossible to ignore. For me, it is the colors; or rather the dramatic shift in the colors that happens so suddenly. It’s almost as though, over night, God trades His palette of subtle cool hues and soft neutrals for a rainbow explosion of vitality. Vibrant, green grasses and trees have miraculously come back from the dead and reach high towards magnificent, cerulean skies dappled with titanium white clouds. And let’s not forget the flowers. Flowers of almost every color begin to appear. The emergence of every bloom is an exciting surprise and each one seems to shout, “HEY, look over here! God’s paint brush was HERE!” It was one of these rainbow surprises that inspired this week’s painting… or should I say paintings. 

I’ve been trying to get outside more, especially in the mornings. I am not what you would call a “morning person” but even I can sit outside and sip coffee in a semiconscious state. One morning, I stepped out on my back deck and made the most wonderful discovery - Grandma’s tulips were blooming! I hadn’t even noticed that the plants had grown and now, all of a sudden, FLOWERS! The pink and yellow blooms seemed to glow, backlit by the dramatic morning sun. This was incredible! I was just hoping for some fresh air with my coffee, maybe a little sunshine, I never expected radiant tulips. This was such a beautiful gift from my Father and I knew right away I wanted to try and paint it.

I began, as I often do, by taking plenty of source photos of my subject from lots of different angles. This process typically yields one or two compositions that are “special” and simply standout from the rest. There was just one problem, my glowing tulips appeared gorgeous from every angle and all the photos were beautiful! Too much inspiration is a pretty good problem to have so ultimately I resolved that I would just have to create multiple pieces on this one. 

As it was the light and color of my subject that I found the most exciting, I knew I wanted to use a medium that would highlight those qualities. I reached for my trusty watercolor pencils. Watercolors, generally speaking, are a translucent medium. This means that each layer of painted color allows the previous ones to shine through. Even the bright white of the paper can act as a color layer, interacting with thin areas of paint, making it more luminous. 

I use watercolor pencils quite a bit so this time I thought I might try something a little different. Typically, I enjoy the precision I am able to achieve with these pencils, however, this time I decided to approach the medium in a more painterly fashion. 

I wanted to simulate the lovely “blooms” one is able to achieve with watercolor paint. A bloom in watercolor painting occurs when excess water is added to areas of paint that have begun to dry. This causes the color to bleed and run in all kinds of delightfully unexpected ways. I love the appearance of these spontaneous organic bleeds but forming them is a little like organized chaos. You never quite know how it’s going to turn out (or where the color is going to run off to). 

Perhaps more experienced watercolorists can corral this phenomena and predict it better than I. For me, creating the blooms in these paintings was totally an act of faith. It required me to just let go of my desire to control the medium for a moment and say, “ok, I have no idea what’s going to happen here but I trust that God will bless it and make it good!” As you can imagine, this process took a lot of big deep breaths but in the end, letting go made room for God to do something beautiful.

This week, I leave you with the song Just Jesus by Hillsong Young and Free. The lyrics were such an encouragement during my painting process to just let go and trust Jesus. I pray it blesses you like it did me. So, take a deep breath and enjoy!

JUST JESUS

I wasted so much life out on my own

If You're the Way, Truth, the Life

What more could I want?

What more could I want?

'Cause, I laid it all on the line

'Cause I find all I need to find

And I got no plan left besides

Just Jesus

I don't need irons in the fire

I don't need rolls of the dice

I got no fall back in mind

Just Jesus

Just Jesus

The Way, the Truth, the Life

I've had my heart in halves, options open

One foot still on the sand, one in ocean

Now I'm all in

'Cause, I laid it all on the line

'Cause I find all I need to find

And I got no plan left besides

Just Jesus

I don't need irons in the fire

I don't need rolls of the dice

I got no fall back in mind

Just Jesus

Just Jesus

The Way, the Truth, the Life

Nothing more, nothing less

Just Jesus

Just Jesus

The Way, the Truth, the life

I love You more than I love anything

I need You, I need You

So let Your love reign over everything

Take the world, I'm content

Just Jesus

Just Jesus

The Way, the Truth, the Life

Nothing more

No one else

Just Jesus

Just Jesus

The Way, the Truth, the Life

Dale Kitty says, "making art is exhausting!"