Passion Vine Bugs by Lucy Arnold

Passion Vine Bugs

9×13 watercolor Many people think of any and all insects as “bugs”, but that’s not really the case. Only insects of the order Hemiptera are true bugs, as are these two …

Stinkbug-&-Bolivar's-Katydid by Lucy Arnold

Stinkbug & Bolivar’s Katydid

9×13 watercolor Who knew a Stink Bug (top) could be so cute? Stink Bugs are true bugs of the order Hemiptera. The Bolivar’s Katydid (bottom) is amazingly well-camouflaged to blend …

Madagascar Sunset Moth, Chrysiridia rhipheus

Madagascar Sunset Moth

22×30 watercolor The Madagascar Sunset Moth, Chrysiridia rhipheus, is one of the most beautiful winged creatures in the world – in my opinion. This one is painted so much larger than …

Colorful autumn leaves of Crepe Myrtle

Autumn Crepe Myrtle

22×30 watercolor One fall, I noticed that the little crepe myrtle trees across the street seemed to have particularly colorful autumn leaves. I went over with my camera and took …

Japanese Maple by Lucy Arnold

Japanese Maple

30×22 watercolor This watercolor painting was done from life – of the autumn leaves on a Japanese maple tree in my backyard. Japanese Maple was published in The Watercolour Flower Aritist’s Bible …

Summer garden flowers by Lucy Arnold

Summer ’90

22×30 watercolor A profusion of summer garden flowers! I painted this floral watercolor in the summer of 1990. I only used flowers from my garden, but they weren’t all blooming at …

Orchids watercolor by Lucy Arnold

Orchids

9×12 watercolor One year, both my son and my daughter – separately – gave me a lovely book of orchids. I took this as a sign that it was time to …

Cymbidium orchids in blue background by Lucy Arnold

Orchids in Blue

15×22 watercolor This watercolor of cymbidium orchids was inspired from live plants. I began by sketching orchids growing in a half-barrel planter in my yard. I took a few photos to …

Red Petals

30×22 pastel “Red Petals” is a blown-up view of intensely red gerbera daisy flower petals. I chose the dark green as a background color to offset the red, which is so very …

Fallen leaves of madrone, oak and bay watercolor by Lucy Arnold

Madrone, Oak, Bay

22×30 watercolor I live in an area of California where there are many hiking trails in oak woodland. This watercolor shows a collage of fallen leaves of madrone, oak and …

Leafscape pastel by Lucy Arnold

Leafscape

19×25 pastel I collected autumn leaves from the sidewalk. What attracted me more than the color was the sculptural quality. So nuanced! I decided to make a pastel painting that emphasized …

Two Snapdragons pastel by Lucy Arnold

Two Dragons

22×30 pastel These two red dragons are, of course, snapdragons. At this size, though, with their odd faces and manes, they reminded me more of some type of mythical, floral …

Purple Iris pastel by Lucy Arnold

Purple Majesty

22×30 pastel A purple iris bloomed in my front garden. Such a purple! It was incredibly rich, deep and velvety. I wanted to capture that color. It took many different …

Purple Lisianthus watercolor by Lucy Arnold

Purple Lisianthus

22×30 watercolor The first time I ever grew a purple lisianthus in my garden, I was amazed at how beautiful it was. I tried to capture the essence of it …

Foundlings

14×16 watercolor; 20.5×23 framed Foundlings is a collection of a few favorite items I found while on walks in the woods and on the beach. It struck me that each one …

Found Treasures by Lucy Arnold

Found Treasures

18×12 watercolor; 26×20 framed When I first moved back to California after living in New York for ten years, I went for lots of hikes. I could hardly go a few …

Mussel Shell watercolor painting by Lucy Arnold

Mussel Shell

9×12 watercolor I brought the mussel shell and dried seaweed home from the beach one day. I made a few small paintings from them, in subtle, natural colors. In 2006, this …

Violet Jade Gems: purple orchid

Violet Jade Gems

22×30 watercolor This lovely purple orchid plant was a birthday gift from my parents one year. I knew the flowers wouldn’t last forever, and I probably wouldn’t be able to …

Mandavilla Magic

22×30 pastel A mandavilla vine grows on my garden wall. I chose to use pastels for this painting to take advantage of the saturation of pigment in that medium. There …

Two Faces: Pansy & Geranium

24×30 oil pastel This large close-up focuses on the intricacies and “faces” of two flowers from the garden- a pansy and a geranium blossom. Published in Floral Birthday Calendar by Carlina …