Matthaei Botanical Gardens Conservatory - Succulents

As I mentioned in my last post, I visited the Matthaei Botanical Gardens in Ann Arbor in early April. Nothing was yet growing outside, but the conservatory had plenty of interesting plants to look at, especially in the succulent room. There were so many bizarre cacti and other spiky plants, many of which were in flower at the time. Here are some of my favorite photos, below:

Matthaei Botanical Gardens Conservatory - Tropical Plants

I recently visited the Matthaei Botanical Gardens in Ann Arbor. It was early April, so there was nothing yet growing outside - but there were some lovely tropical plants and some interesting cacti and succulents in the Conservatory (the green house), which I took several photos of. For today's post, I'll show some of my favorite tropical plant photos. (Check back soon for a second post of succulent photos.)

The Great Lakes in Blue-Green and Brown

As I mentioned in my last post, I recently painted one my "Great Lakes" watercolors as a gift for my sister-in-law, who just moved to Michigan. She likes earth tones and neutral colors, so I used colors similar to what I used for my recent "River Pebbles" patterned paintings - Olive Green, Cerulean Blue, and Orange-Brown.

Because I also planned to paint another "Great Lakes" painting (the Blue-Black piece I featured in my last post), I traced the outline of the Great Lakes onto two pieces of watercolor paper, and taped them both down at the same time.

In the photo below, you can see the three tubes of watercolor paint I used, as well as the still-wet, recently finished painting.

Once it was dry enough, I untapped it from the table, signed it, and took it upstairs to photograph.

I purchased a two-tone white and wood frame, cut the painting to size so it would fit, and then gifted it to my sister-in-law. I love how this frame looks like it has a wooden mat around it between the white paper and the white frame.

The Great Lakes in Blue-Black

I recently painted two other 8x10 "Great Lakes" watercolor paintings - one as a gift for my sister-in-law, who just moved to Michigan (that painting to come in my next post!) and this other "black and blue" themed piece, created with Ivory Black and light Cerulean Blue watercolor tubes.

This first photo shows my new "The Great Lakes in Blue-Black" watercolor painting while it's still fresh and wet. You can see how the two colors dried differently, with the black staying wetter longer than the blue pigment.

When it was dry, I untaped it from the table and took it upstairs to photograph. Here's the finished painting, dry and signed in the corner, below Lake Erie.

This painting, and all other "Great Lakes" paintings I've created that are still available for purchase, can all be found here in my Etsy shop. Each painting is $49, and includes a white mat.

Great Lakes - Dramatic Sky

I recently had someone purchase my watercolor painting "Dramatic Sky" from my Etsy shop, which was an assignment I completed several years ago for a watercolor studio class in college. This person also loved my "Great Lakes" watercolor paintings, and requested that I make a custom "Great Lakes" painting for them, in colors matching the "Dramatic Sky" painting they'd purchased.

In this first picture, you can see the "Dramatic Sky" painting, which I kept and referred to for color reference while I painted the new piece, as well as the outline of the Great Lakes traced onto a new sheet of watercolor paper.

I taped down the new painting-to-be (to keep it stretched taut while I worked on its surface with paint and water), and dug through my watercolor collection to find tubes that I thought would best match my "Dramatic Sky" painting.

Because I painted "Dramatic Sky" so long ago, I didn't remember what specific colors I'd used, and had to guess.

There are two types of yellow I often use - one that's a warmer yellow and one that's a cooler yellow; for the "Dramatic Sky" piece, I was quite sure I'd used the cooler one, called "Lemon Yellow," which I'd favored more back in college and had since used less and less frequently. (In fact, I'd noticed just a month before this commission came in that I didn't even have any Lemon Yellow still in my box of watercolor tubes - which is why I'd included it on my holiday wish list this past December. Thankfully, my in-laws bought me one, so I had Lemon Yellow to work with again when I got this commission!)

For the greens and blues in the painting, I figured I'd used some mixture of Phthalo Green, Phthalo Blue, Hooker's Green, Viridian, and Ultramarine Blue. I got all of these tubes out so I could easily access them, and made sure they were all represented with fresh paint on my palette - though I may or may not have used all of them as I went. Hooker's Green in particular (a very dark green) I likely didn't end up using, instead going with the brighter Viridian, and getting the dark colors with dark blues instead.

The predominant color in my "Dramatic Sky" painting is a dark blue-green/teal, with just a little bit of brighter green, and even a smaller amount of Lemon Yellow. I tried to duplicate these proportions in the new "Great Lakes" painting as well, though ultimately ended up using more green than I had in "Dramatic Sky," just to add more visual contrast between the dark blue and somewhat lighter green.

Here is the finished painting below, still wet.

Once the painting was dry, I signed it and untaped it from the table. The person who commissioned this piece specifically requested that I sign it so that it did not look like a print, but an original painting. I always do this for my original paintings, often signing my "Great Lakes" paintings with my last name and date just under Lake Erie. For this piece, because of her request, I signed it slightly larger than I normally would have.

I love how this painting turned out. I think the dark blues and greens are very striking against the white paper, especially when paired with a matching white mat.

For comparison, here is the "Dramatic Sky" painting next to the finished "Great Lakes" piece. I packaged these two paintings together to save on shipping costs, and sent them along to the buyer.

I charge the same for a custom "Great Lakes" watercolor as I do for the ones I've already painted (which are for sale here in my Etsy shop). Each "Great Lakes" painting is $49 (not including shipping), and comes with a white mat.

Do you want a custom "Great Lakes" painting in a very specific color scheme to match another piece of artwork in your home, or a general color scheme for a particular room? Leave me a comment below, send me a message on Etsy, or email me at afrownfe@gmail.com. I love making custom pieces, and would love to work with you to create exactly what you envision!