Dahlia with Curled Petals - Final

© Ellen Blonder

It probably took as long to layer on the darkest shades as it did to get to the progress shown in my last post. Now I can't wait for real dahlia season.

Dahlia with Curled Petals - Progress

© Ellen Blonder

After taking a break from a series of watercolor dahlia paintings, I realized there were more I had photographed and meant to paint ever since. This one has petals that curl in all directions.

© Ellen Blonder

No matter how dark I think my first shades of pink are, I always seem to go over them again and again as the flower takes shape.

© Ellen Blonder

Getting close.

Ivory Dahlia

© Ellen Blonder

Last watercolor of the year. This is an ivory-colored dahlia from an Oregon friend's garden. I loved the flower's frilliness and graceful curled petals. 

Red Dahlia

© Ellen Blonder

I've been painting mostly pastel-tinted dahlias, but they come in bright red, too. Here's another flower from the Mendocino Coast Botanical Garden. I'm painting it the week before Christmas, so it looks like a summer flower dressed in winter colors.

White Dahlia

 © Ellen Blonder

© Ellen Blonder

When I think of dahlias, I usually visualize bright colors. I thought it would be an interesting exercise to paint one that was all white, where I couldn't rely on color gradations to define the layers of petals. My reference was another flower from the Mendocino Coast Botanical Garden. 

Another Pink Dahlia

 © Ellen Blonder

 © Ellen Blonder

© Ellen Blonder

Here's another dahlia from the Mendocino Coast Botanical Garden. The variations are endless. I liked the way the petals curved in all directions in this one. Like the other dahlia paintings, this is a watercolor, built up darker and darker over a week's time, catch as catch can.

Frilly Dahlia

 © Ellen Blonder

This dahlia was so complicated I hesitated to try to capture it. I had photographed it at the Mendocino Coast Botanical Garden last summer, and loved its frilly petals.

 © Ellen Blonder

I always seem to start too light, but going straight to darker tones feels wrong.

© Ellen Blonder

Here it is finished, after several days' work. I decided it was complex enough without adding leaves.

Pink and White Dahlia

 © Ellen Blonder

 © Ellen Blonder

© Ellen Blonder

The last few days, I've been working on this watercolor of a pink and white dahlia that I saw last year at the Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens at Fort Bragg, California. It was the height of the season for dahlias, so I took many photographs and hope to paint more.

Pink and Yellow Dahlia - Start to Finish

 © Ellen Blonder

Last year, I photographed dahlias at the botanical garden in Fort Bragg, California. It has taken me this long to finally paint from those. 

  © Ellen Blonder

This flower seemed to glow from within, with delicate pinks layered over pale yellow on the inner parts of the petals.

 © Ellen Blonder

I've been working on this water color off and on over this last week. Time to stop fussing and getting to some of those other reference photos of these wildly varied flowers.