#30x30DirectWatercolor2018 Day 13 and 14

The butterfly was so quick!

Daniel Smith watercolor stick--French Ultramarine Blue

More direct watercolors from my blue and white garden for Days 13 and 14. June is the perfect month for this challenge because that's when all my blue flowers bloom. The roses are already fading now and the blue flowers will be gone in a few weeks, except for the bell floweres, lobelia and pansies.

Had to add the butterfly and the half open blossom.

I started these out on a drizzly day, testing out my blues and purples and pinks to find the right combination. Daniel Smith French Ultramarine Blue watercolor stick was better than the DS Cobalt Blue for this subject.

Then today, the sun came out and I saw the buds of my hydrangea respond by starting to open up.

I saw a very dramatically marked butterfly pollinating my subject. It was so quick, but visited again and again. That gave me a chance to note the way that it almost looks upside down and the head is not where you might think it is. I think it might be the Canadian Tiger Swallowtail.

iPhone Live photo, Press to see brief video

My husband took this live photo a few days ago. I don't know if it will react unless you see this on an iPhone or iPad, but the original photo gave a few seconds of action.

A Butterfly Emerges

My watercolor line and wash sketches

There were two caterpillars who each made a chrysalis in Leila's mason jar. Today the last one emerged. After hanging upside down in the jar for a while, it began to open and close its wings. Then we took it outside and our granddaughter, Leila, let it climb out onto her hand. She carried it on the back of her hand and kept it safe for more than four hours until it was ready to fly away.

Oh, and incidentally, Leila also does gourmet food styling out of flowers and leaves. This is her lemongrass "soup".