#30×30, 2025, Day 30: End of the Peony Season

All good things come to an end :) That’s it for this year’s watercolor marathon :) and at the same time, the Peonies are finished in our garden. A combination of heatwave and thundershowers has beaten them down, left them lying in a pile of petals :) A beautiful expiration :)

All that work and they only last a month! I think the Peony has always been a symbol that way, on the brevity of life and beauty, but the opportunity for return the next season.

If I’ve learned one thing this year from the marathon; it’s glazing – which seems so basic – and yet I haven’t used it in over 25 years of painting in watercolor.

I threw a diluted pink wash over most of this painting, working at a very steep angle to get some nice sheeting drips, and trying to avoid ruining some choice light spots – and wow! It really does work to downplay some unimportant areas, and unify the whole image.

I can see why I’ve never used this technique – as it requires mixing a dish of paint, and most of it ends up on the floor :) (Well, to be honest I did this over an aluminum tray full of paper towel). Also you need to holding your painting taped to a lightweight board (I use corplast) so you can tilt and tip and guide the wash. (Watch Marc Foley do it!)

Not sure if I’ll be using this trick a lot? – but I guess it’s a new tool in the kit :) Thanks to my sketching buddy Charles for showing me that.

So that was my final painting, which I think brings it to #60 for the event, depending on how you count’em. And this last one is the only real Direct Watercolor! Finally! A painting without an under-drawing. Hah!

But of course, it’s a lot easier when it’s flowers :)

My sincere thanks to everyone who follows the blog, and anyone who also participated over on Vivify this year. Having you guys as a small group of dedicated painters is incredibly inspiring. It’s tremendous that people are willing to go along with this little stunt of ours :)

I feel like this was one of my best marathons so far – certainly in terms of productivity, but also for just enjoying the process. My strategy of painting small worked very well, even if my stretch goal of enlarging my best miniatures did not. But that’s ok! I can see the path forward, plenty of time to figure that out :)

And so; A huge thanks to all of you who keep me painting!

I hope you’ve also made some discoveries, and levelled up your paintings – and I hope you’ll be back for #30×30 next year!

~Marc Taro Holmes