Friday, July 13, 2012

trembling joy

watercolor
(click image to enlarge)

"...The girls chirped and chatted like uncaged warblers. 
They were delirious with joy... 
Intoxications of life’s morning!
 Enchanted years! 
The wing of a dragonfly trembles! 
Oh, reader, whoever you may be, do you have such memories?"
~Victor HugoLes Misérables


Sharing at PPF

41 comments:

  1. This guy just says summer to me! the colors and the subject are things I associate with summer at the lake!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Such charm you always show in your wonderful works. Just lovely.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Fantastic Minnemie,
    I love the way you've capture the light, especially on the delicate wings and the eye. Such detail even down to the hairy legs! Brilliant ;D

    ReplyDelete
  4. Beautiful painting and a great quote! Valerie

    ReplyDelete
  5. Fantastic watercolor ~ well done ~~ thanks ^_^ (A Creative Harbor)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Just beautiful! Funny we both quoted Hugo today!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Just gorgeous, love this perspective!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Every week I come here, I am just amazed at the beauty that you portray in your paintings. You are amazing. Happy PPF I can't wait to see what's next :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Minniemie this is so fun. I just now before coming to your blog saw an orange dragonfly out my window flitting around from flower to flower and tried to capture it with my camera. Then I came here and saw your orange dragon fly. Seems very significant to me. LOL
    LOVE LOVE LOVE this painted dragonfly as I do all of your art. I loved reading your interview and learning more about you. Wishing you a happy relaxing retirement. Hope it's exciting too. My DH just retired in June! A new phase of live begins! Hugs, Lynn

    ReplyDelete
  10. Wonderful!
    Stay inspired!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Wonderful watercolor and perfect quote to go with it. :)

    ReplyDelete
  12. this is beautiful Minniemie, I love dragonflies, the colours are gorgeous

    ReplyDelete
  13. I love this one. What a difficult subject to draw, and you did it perfectly.

    ReplyDelete
  14. what a wonderful dragonfly! absolutely beautiful & delicate as it should be. Funny how many colours do show up in their wings!

    ReplyDelete
  15. I love dragonflies, and this is amazing! What a great composition and use of color.

    ReplyDelete
  16. This is an awesome looking dragon fly! I also like how you find quotes to pair with your artwork. I think I get to wordy in my blog entries sometimes. Perhaps I should try it your way - point to ponder. Blessings!

    ReplyDelete
  17. The colour work around the eye is just stunning... I find visiting you very inspiring...xx

    ReplyDelete
  18. I see movement and I hear sound in this painting. I love it. Blessings, Janet PPF

    ReplyDelete
  19. Dragonflies are special and your painting captures this.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Wonderful rendition of a dragonfly! I get excited seeing a dragonfly- there were a lot around when I was a kid, but now with the city of manila sort of polluted, there are less and less around! :^( Patsy from
    HeARTworks

    ReplyDelete
  21. So fun, you captured it perfectly!

    Hugs Giggles

    ReplyDelete
  22. i love this one! the details are so good and the colors too.

    ReplyDelete
  23. What a wonderful, wonderful subject handled beautifully. I am fascinated by dragonflies. You know, they will play with you if they happen to land on your finger. I had that pleasure once with a beautiful red one. I was delighted.

    ReplyDelete
  24. dragonflies are one of my favorite things. . .instructions on how you did the wings! absolutely beautiful!!!!
    cheers, dana

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Glad you like it:-)For the wings: after drawing the dragonfly, and masking out some light areas, I applied wet washes over it all, but blotting most of the pigment in the wing areas with a paper towel. I wanted to retain the reflected light on the wings, yet translate the translucent effect as well, which meant it needed a whisper of background color behind it. Then I intensified the contrast between wing and background with some light washes of blue and of course outlined some of the veins on the wings for definition. I will say I was pleasantly surprised myself that it turned out!

      Delete
  25. Dragonflies are such a strange and cool insect. Close-up of the dragonfly is a tiny bit creepy to me because it's a big bug, eeek! I always like to watch them fly around, but not too close to my head! Fantastic painting of this one with all the great attention to detail! Maybe I would be less creeped out if I got to know them a little better. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  26. Gorgeous insect portrait!
    You are such a talented and inspiring artist!!
    ♥♥♥
    Happy PPF!!
    Mary
    Mixed-Media Map Art

    ReplyDelete
  27. The delicate work with watercolor! you are a great artist, I love it. Saludos

    ReplyDelete
  28. I,ve just to discover this pretty blog!!!. I,ll follow
    you from this moment because I've liked every painting. Be proud. Regards

    ReplyDelete
  29. What a nice way to paint a dragon fly. Exellent!

    ReplyDelete
  30. Hello MINNEMINE,
    Your works are fantastic, very beautifull!!!
    Cheers,
    Maribel M.B

    ReplyDelete
  31. What a wonderful blog! I like your philoshophy. Your art is admirable, minnemmie.
    Warm regards.

    ReplyDelete
  32. I'm not a fan of bugs, but your watercolor is stunning!!!

    ReplyDelete
  33. beautiful beautiful dragonfly... I love them!

    ReplyDelete
  34. This is lovely. wow. You do color so well.

    ReplyDelete
  35. Ok, so not a fan of things with more than 4 legs, but this painting is intriguing! Your w/c work is really amazing! xo Kate P.S. I have a giveaway and I'd love for you or anyone else to join. This is my first give-away, if you have any tips how to make this better I'd appreciate it!

    ReplyDelete
  36. Dragon flies are so gorgeous and this one is particularly so. Great work on the poem too.

    ReplyDelete
  37. I was away for PPF last week so just catching up on the folk I follow now - this is stunning - Your compositions are always so good - I love how its a snippet of the animal/insect - I like to do that too.

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for visiting. I appreciate your feedback!