I hope to catch up on everyone’s blogs tomorrow – the last couple of days was spent painting and working in the gardens. Only two to go more paintings left in the challenge ~ continuing the countdown.
Lilac, #13 is an oil pastel (8×10) painted on a gesso prepared hardboard. A gouache underpainting was done, then two coats of clear gesso, then a very thin white wash in acrylic and finally layer, upon layer of oil pastel was applied. I’ve wanted to paint a lilac for the longest time, but felt unsure about approaching the petals and make the painting convincing. So here we are, why not do it as part of this challenge ~
Thanks for checking in on the challenge ~ click onto the image for a larger view.
Reference image used was from Mary Watts of pmp.
DON’T TAKE MY IMAGES!! MY ART IS COPYRIGHTED.
PLEASE DON’T COPY OR USE MY IMAGE WITHOUT RECEIVING MY PERMISSION FIRST – SEE DISCLOSURE ON THE RIGHT PANEL.
Oil Pastels by Mary 
Gorgeous!
Thank you Josee for your lovely comment! Nice to meet you ~
You have an amazing site! Very beautiful work! It’s my pleasure to have found you…
Superb!
Thank you Sarah!
Thank you Mary! Your 15 flowers should be an Art Show!!!
Especially, thank you for including the lilac, my favorite blooms….ever!
Hi Resa, thank you so much for your feedback and compliment! It was a fun challenge that really could have gone on for a long time, I’ll be painting flowers again ~ stay tuned.
Oooh, I love this one. The colors are especially nice and calming, and I love how you presented the wood.
So nice to see you Mamie! Thank you so much for your lovely comments and thoughts!
Gorgeous, Mary! Our leaf buds are beginning to unfold on our lilac tree. Spring is grand. Have a happy day. 🙂
Hi Bette, thanks so much. Great to read that Maine is finally starting to wake up from the long winter months. Nothing like appreciating Spring all the more. Hope you get tremendous joy from your lilac tree and all the Spring leafs popping open! Have a great weekend.
The colors, oh the colors! You nailed it, even down to the droopy weight of the heavy blossoms.
Very cool Leslie – loved reading your feedback and description of the “droopy weight”! Thanks so much ~
wish I could smell them 🙂
Thank you Heath for the lovely compliment!
So gorgeous! I love lilacs, and am looking forward to our flowers blooming in the next month.
Thank so much for your generous feedback – the flower challenge came at the perfect time of year! Love your floral drawings ~
Such a beautiful dash of spring color…. (As I madly try to catch up after an evil WP gnome attacked by notification settings.)
Hi Frank, than you for your fine comment – means a lot. Glad you enjoyed the piece. I heard from another blogger that the notification settings had an issue – hope they get it under control. Just getting ready to finish #14 flower painting ~ have a great day!
Interestingly, it happened to be before … but hey …. in the big scheme of life, just a blip.
Yes, but I’m curious how do you think it starts – by spam maybe?
Using your creative abilities impresses me more than keeping up with blogs which you also do very well.
Lulu you are so nice, than you so much. But my husband has recently retired and it has been a true struggle in keeping up with painting and the blog. I’m trying not to let any of it fall by the wayside, a routine will develop all in time. I see you are on the road again! Save travels ~
Glad you tried your hand at painting lilacs, Mary. They’re one of my favorite flowers! Beautiful painting!
Thank you Geralyn for your lovely comment – I’m a huge fan of lilacs too. Glad you enjoyed the piece. Nice to see you after your marathon – congratulations btw on your finish!!
Purple, the colour of royalty. Befitting of your work, Mary!
Hi Miss Millie – so great to see you again. Thank you for your kind feedback and compliment, means a lot. Hope you are making strides with your book.
Very lovely! Purple is such a nice colour. The background really pleases me as well 🙂
Thank you Pauline for your lovely feedback – I love the color purple in flowers. I was going to paint in some cutting shears or gloves and thought better of it, would have gone with the rustic background.
Stunning painting!
Thank you for your generous comment!!
Hi Mary, This a fabulous painting. Love the colors and I can almost smell them! 🙂 I am just catching up on posts as we also spent most of the weekend outdoors gardening! Spring is definitely in the air.
Hi Janell, I hear you about the gardening – it’s a tug of war in what wins out gardening – painting – blogging! Thank you so much, glad you enjoyed the painting!
Beautiful!
Thank you so much for your kind words! Very nice to meet you ~
Wow – this is so beautiful!
Thank you Fiona!
Amazing painting!!! I love it so much. The colors you used are perfect (especially all these different blue tones).
Hi Cha! Thanks very much for your lovely comment – doesn’t surprise me that you notice the colors (you are a master of color!). Glad you enjoyed the piece.
Lol come onnn. Noooo not a master ahah but thanks so much!
I just want to run out and get an armload of lilacs right now!
I’m sure the neighbour wouldn’t notice… or mind…
How cool! – I’ll go with you. Got to love those flowers. Thank you so much for your thoughtful words!!
Beautiful Mary!!!
Thanks Catherine!
OhHHH, I love lilacs and these are gorgeous!
Thank you Elena – something very romantic about lilacs and their fragrance!
oh mary, it’s always a joy to the senses to view your posts! this is so lovely! i wish i could see it in person!
Thanks so much Z! The painting does look better in person. One of these days I’ll have to see about getting a camera that takes better close-ups. It was a fun flower to paint with oil pastels, I almost got the layers as thick as oil paints for knife work.
Spot on, Mary! This really is beautiful 🙂 And I’m looking forward to seeing the lighthouse too.
Thanks so much Jo – you are the best! You’ll be back from your current trip and onto your next before the lighthouse will be done, lol! Have a great trip to Poland!
Beautiful! The coatings are beautifully done. I always love the lilac, now I know why. Thank you, Mary!
Thank you so much Amy, neat feedback and compliment – glad you enjoyed the painting. Have a great week ahead.
You have outdone yourself, Mary! You know how much I love your florals ❤
Thanks very much Angie – two to go!
Finish strong, Mary!
Thanks Angie!
That is so beautiful, Mary! At first I thought is was a photograph. Lovely!
Thank you so much Jill – really appreciate your feedback! Have a wonderful week!
Stunning!! Looks like Lilac’s to me. Almost need to have a whiff of their perfume!!
Hi Susan, thank you so much for your generous comment – really appreciate it. We’ll have to figure out how to make floral paintings with simulated smells, lol ~ thanks again!
Oh this is so romantic Mary, love, love lilacs and this is just superbly executed! Love how loose you got with your brush and for these lilacs that technique is perfectly reflecting the essence of it.
Hi Eva, thank you so much for your awesome feedback on this painting. I agree about lilacs and romance, a wonderful connection – perhaps because of the quiet purples and sweet fragrance. I used a painters knife a lot in this piece that I think contributed to the looseness, that was a decision that I struggled with in the beginning whether to make the petals tight or loose, loose won out. Thank you for seeing those areas that bring a scene together, means a lot to read your analysis. Have a wonderful week!
Mary, You have really outdone yourself on this one!! This is just gorgeous. From the colors, to the form of the flowers,… just fantastic. Lilacs are not an easy flower to paint and you nailed it. I LOVE it. ~Rita
Very cool Rita, thank you so much I really loved your description. Was interesting trying to figure how to paint it with OPs, that and having to let it set up each day in order to layer on more paint. It was fun, one day maybe I’ll try a peony. Hope you have a great week ~
You are welcome. Its amazing what you do with oil pastels! Looking forward to seeing the peony! ~Rita
I wish! I still haven’t been able to think through painting one – but I will at some point!!
This is really lovely, Mary. It’s interesting to read the process you’ve used. Thanks for sharing. 😃
Thank you so much Sylvia! Have a wonderful week ~
Beautiful painting and style. I can almost smell their wonderful scent.
Thank you Denise for your kind feedback and comment. Very nice to meet you!
Every one of your flower paintings is exceptional. This is not exception! 🙂
Wow Dorann, thank you so much for your beautiful comment and compliment – means a lot to me!
You got it!! Looks exactly like Lilacs to me right down to the way they curve on the stem. I adore Lilacs and their delicious scent! Very lovely Mary.
So cool Rhonda! Thanks very much for your generous comment and description – this surprisingly was a lot of fun to work out. Have a great week!
Mary, you are a wonderfully talented artist!
Thank you Rhonda – you are very kind.
I can almost smell ’em!
Thank you so much Cynthia – awesome compliment!
lovely and the colour is wonderful, I am finding it really hard to find the right colour for a Wisteria painting at the moment!
Thanks so much Anna for your lovely feedback. The colors and fullness of the branches of flowers is what drew me to paint the scene. I know what you mean about getting the colors right, takes a bit of mixing and blending. Looking forward to seeing your painting!
Absolutely beautiful, Mary!! May I “press” this post for use on another day as long as I give credits to you? I can’t believe it is a painting it looks so real! Thanks for sharing!!
Thank you so much Patrick, such a compliment and thank you for asking to “press” this. Yes, I’m looking forward to your post. Have a great week!
Glorious, Mary.
Thank you so much Sarah!
Gorgeous colors, Mary…. It’s so full of those luscious lilac colors. Beautiful work!
Thank you Linda! I love lilac colors and this scene of them gave me plenty of opportunity to play them up. Thanks again, hope you have a lovely week ~
Simply gorgeous, Mary! Double happiness to me as mine didn’t bloom this year and I am so fond of lilac trees!!!! Beautifully done. 🙂
Thank you so much Marina – I’m so glad that I could bring you these flowers this year. Sorry to read that yours did not open, the fragrance is so awesome. Hope you have a wonderful week ahead!
Beautifully arranged and painted
Thank you Derrick, much appreciated!
You’ve caught their essence so well Mary… a myriad of tiny mauve and lilac lowers making up a voluptuous show …. you’ve been so busy with this series but how rewarding it must feel 🙂
Thank you so much Poppy – I hadn’t a clue how I was going to approach this painting. I kept seeing the finished piece, but took a while to get a handle on what technique to use. It was a great exercise and I’ll probably paint lilacs again- was a lot of fun. You’re right about the reward, it’s been a long time coming for painting flowers that I always wanted to paint.
You did the lovely lilac justice, Mary! Lilacs bring back lovely memories of my family’s backyard when I lived in the north. They just don’t thrive in Atlanta’s humid summers, but oh, your painting sure does! Beautiful.
Hi Elisa, thank you very much. I’m thrilled that these lilacs brought back good memories. You are so right, these flowers are signatures up North – I miss seeing the flowering trees and bushes, and wonderful scent. Have a great week ahead.
This vibrant colours and freshness made my Sunday morning… 🙂
What an awesome comment Maniparna – that’s very cool. I’m glad that the Lilacs brought you some joy. Have a wonderful week ahead ~
Thanks, same to you Mary… 🙂
Love the colors, my wife says this one is really pretty. 🙂
Thank you John and your Mrs.!! for your lovely feedback ~
Lilac, gorgeous lilacs. So glad you chose lilacs. So seldom seen in gardens in my neighbourhood. Such a shame.
Thank you Gallivanta – I’ve not seen too many here in TX either, but in Maine and NY they were plenty around and were gorgeous. Rochester, NY has a Lilac festival every year. Glad you enjoyed the piece.
The Lilac festival in Rochester must be a lovely sight.
Beautiful Gallivanta, you would love it!
This is so lush and the colors are wonderful, Mary.
Thank you Kerry! Hope you are well.
Feeling much better. Thanks.
Much better. Thanks.
This is really beautiful.
Thank you so much Sharon!