Delphiniums and Icelandic Poppies

watercolor 32.5 x14.5 inches

I painted most of the poppies in this last summer but was at the Greuning Cabin residency when the delphiniums were in bloom, so finished it this summer.   I brought each flower in to paint in the studio.  With all the dry weather this year, the spikes were rather small.

The background is black gouache.  I painted it twice.  The first background was a bluish grey, but turned out very splotchy, which almost brought me to tears.