Barrel Cactus in Bloom by Michelle Frae Cummings

To take a break from my normal crafting, I thought it would be fun to show you a mixed media painting I did for this months theme- "Flowers".
I'm currently in Borrego Springs, Ca visiting my Mother. They had some rain a couple of days ago so most of the desert floor is still green and the flowers are still in the budding stage, not ready  to open up.
When I created  this barrel cactus cluster, I painted them in anticipation of what they will look like in a few weeks!

 I started first by painting the cactus base shapes with green watercolor. Then I added shades of bright yellow, yellow green and dark green watercolor. When the paint was dry, I added some definite detail with gold, dark green and pink pearlescent  watercolors by Yasutomo.

Next I used my finger to add some shades of Inka-Gold.
Lavared for the blooms with some Champagne in the center. Oldgold and Champagne for the cactus sharp spines. The nice thing about Inka-Gold is that once it set, it will not smear and your art work can be enjoyed with no hassle.
Lastly I used a fine tip black Sharpie to bring the Barrel Cactus cluster to life!

Thank you for visiting. I hope you have enjoyed the "change of scenery" from my normal crafting. :)
~Michelle

Please use the "hop forward" button to the right of this post -  for The Designer Craft Connection group to see what else is "blooming" on their blogs too!