Work in Progress: Plumeria II (Version 1 and 2), and Yellow Rose Painting

One of those days in the studio -- long working hours yet seemingly with very limited visible progress. I worked on both versions of Plumeria II on paper, adjusting the value and color temperature in the shadow area, making the soft shadow shapes more accurate. Now that I have glazed the first version with magenta/pink local color, and went over the second version with violet-grey shadow colors, they started to look more similar to each other. However, the adjustment process seems to be going forever, and with each layer of glazing there always seem to be more little things that need tweaking: a slight warmer pink in the corner, a slight darker passage in the center... You get it. So here's what I have ended up getting:

Plumeria II,  Watercolor on Fabriano Artistico 140# Cold Press Paper , 5"h x 7"w, WIP 7

Plumeria II (Version 2),  Watercolor on Arches 140# Cold Press Paper , 5"h x 7"w, WIP 2

I did manage to start a new painting just for a change of mind -- sometimes you focus on the same little area for too long, everything starts to look wrong. This is a yellow rose, which I started underpainting the shadow area with a mix of Permanent Rose, Aureolin Yellow, Cobalt blue and Cobalt Violet. So far the value of the darker shadows are not totally right yet, but I am in love with all the wonderful granulation effects created by the Cobalt colors. I am using Lanaquarelle #140 Cold Press paper for this painting. It's a very soft paper and cannot afford much abuse, but the surface is lovely and just emphasizes the sedimentary colors so well! After the shadows are finished, I will glaze over the root of each pedal with some soft yellow hues. I'm looking forward to that...zq

Yellow Rose,  Watercolor on Lanaquarelle140# Cold Press Paper , 8"h x 8"w, WIP 1