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Painting #18- 52/52 Painting Challenge

White and Purple Paphiopedilum- Watercolor ©2012 Mindy Lighthipe

A few weeks ago I was at the Gainesville Orchid Society meeting and they had a silent auction on some of the members plants. I found this miniature paph and fell in love with it. I am used to seeing paphs with long slender stems with big blooms on the end. The flowers are almost always staked up. The orchid was very compact. As soon as I placed my bid I noticed that another member had placed a bid on it. I paced around the room and finally came back and bid on it again. It was nerve racking for about 40 minutes when I finally told the other bidder I would arm wrestle her for it. She laughed and we each decided that we were each bidding on several orchids. We discussed which ones were "gotta have". Luckily for both of us we were both thrilled with the orchids we took home.

One of the things I do when I first get a plant is to spend time drawing it from all different angles.I find that the more I draw it the more I learn and figure out what is the best angle to portray it from. With this orchid Iiked that back of it as much as I liked the front of it……. So I worked into my composition both of the drawings that I did as sketches into the final painting. I hope that you like it.

When you start a painting, how do you decide the composition?