3 quick water color sketches

I made four quick sketches during dessert tonight (because dessert was ice cream and I'm allergic to it.) I gave three of the four to ML, my mother-in-law, as part of her mother's day gift. (We also gave her a digital picture frame loaded with about 70 photos of family--spent
quite a bit of time preparing them) and a carnation and BB made her a delicious home-cooked a meal.

Don't worry--I ASKED her if she'd like them--I didn't force them on her--and she said she would--she has several other of my paintings already. (And I made her a card, and PB played the piano--gave her a lovely private recital and went home with her to fix the programming
on the VCR and remote for her. Anyway, the fourth painting went home with her without being scanned, as it was the last one. (I did take a quick photo of it--which I haven't downloaded.) (The missing picture was the third in the series of tulips and I painted BB last of all, but did not give that one to her, as it didn't turn out well.)

I hate to keep complaining about the scanner, but the colors and contrast in these reproductions aren't true to the originals (and the pictures were a little too big to fit all the way on.)

The first one of the tulips is called "Sun and Shadow." The second tulip is untitled. The third tulip is the one that's missing.

The one of BB isn't very good. Not as good as the last one I did of him. He looks overly sad and tired here. The skin tones on this aren't as pleasing either. I was using a different palette. It was done from life and unlike the last one I did, he was moving around constantly because he was entertaining.

I wanted to explain WHY I want to be able to make consistent likenesses. I took up trying to learn to do art because I wanted to illustrate children's books--not children's books in general, but my OWN books, that I write. But I am despairing of ever being good enough. Meanwhile, after taking two art classes, I would like to learn art for its OWN sake--but--I still would like to illustrate my books--I'll probably die of old age before I ever get good enough to, though. It doesn't seem to be my forte. I cannot capture likenesses well or consistently, but I keep trying.

I did all four of the paintings at the dinner table during dessert and coffee (I can't have coffee either.) So they truly were quick sketches. They are water color and a little gouache--not much gouache--on Canson 140 pound cold press water color paper, 8.5 x 12. No pencil sketches were made for any of these. I do better, I think when I sketch first, but I am trying to learn to ALSO paint without sketching.

See the third one here (the missing one, which I photographed but did not scan).