"Lilacs", another painting without a sketch, 18" x 12 1/2"

The lilacs are in full bloom here, and they are beautiful. Last week I just had to paint them, but what's a person to do, there are sooooo many little petals. I tried the same approach as I did with the pansies, it was the only way I could manage these beautiful flowers. The last time I tried to paint lilacs was probably 20 years ago, and it was a disaster. I actually tried to paint all the little petals , not a good idea. Since then I'd always avoided painting them, as I wasn' t sure how to simplify. I'm more comfortable simplifying theses days, it's definitely the way to go for a subject like this. I may noodle a bit more with the background on the right, I used a really nice red violet in there and I may want to put a bit more in. I don't want to overdo it, but a little more might be nice.

My daughter likes this one, and she's asked if I can frame it and put it in her room. Of course I said yes .

This is done on Canson Mi Teintes, paper color tobacco. I used mostly Schmincke and Giraults, the size is 18" x 12 1/2". 

I am having a difficult time getting an accurate photo to post here.  It looks fine on my computer, but once I post it here the colors and values change.  This is the best I could come up with:

© by Christine DiMauro, all rights reserved.

Here is the setup I painted from.  As you can see, I've worked on this a bit more, refining the flowers and playing with the background.  This photo is a bit washed out, it's difficult to get a good photo with lights on the painting, it tends to distort the values.