Second version of the hydrangeas painted as a wedding gift for my Mom and Stepfather, Jim. Sadly, Jim passed away in December of 2005, after a very short but happy marriage, and leaving a great void in my Mother's life. No one could have asked for a better step father.
This was on 1/4 sheet of Arches hot pressed paper. The leaves were painted over gesso. (Actually, the gessoed leaves were due to the mistake of leaving the masking fluid on the leaves too long and being unable to remove it. Not wanting to lose the already painted petals, I tried gesso-ing over it. I loved the result and will try a painting soon of the entire area painted over gesso.)