My Succulent Calendars
Newsletter subscribers: Scroll down to leave a comment in response to the question I sent you. Thanks!
Always in Current-Year Format!
I have numerous succulent calendars available at my online Succulent Chic store, hosted by Zazzle. Although created and sold for past years, each is automatically updated.
I don't sell my calendars myself---Zazzle does. Be sure to enter Zazzle's ever-changing discount code at checkout. Note: during Zazzle's Black Friday sales, calendars are usually discounted 50% to 60%!
Btw, we "artists" get a 10% royalty. Clearly, I don't do it for the money---rather for the creative joy of it. Also to give as gifts to family and friends, and for succulent enthusiasts who shop for one-of-a-kind succulent-themed items at Succulent Chic.
sample calendar images:
Jan - Echeveria sp.
Feb - Agave shawii (Shaw's agave)
Apr - Echeveria imbricata (Blue rose)
Jul - Agave nickelsiae (King Ferdinand agave)
Aug - Echeveria 'Blue Sky'
Dec - Agave polly pelona
Silver star graptoveria
Sempervivum
Queen Victoria
Bumpy echeveria
Blue curls echeveria
It’s much easier to leave a comment on the ones I like the least because there are so few of them. But my least favorites are Agave polly pelona and Christmas Agave because they are least recognizable to me. I really love King Ferdinand and Queen Victoria agaves because I love those white markings and the almost stained glass effect they give. And I love Blue Curls because it’s one of my favorites.
Like: 3, 6, 13, 16
Dislike: 1, 2, 10
I didn’t like so much: Agave Pelona; King Ferdinand Agave; Parry’s Agave (my least favourite); Xmas agave (although I could see that you might want that for the month of December),
I liked:: Blue Rose Echevia:; Blue Sky Echevia; Sederia; Sempervivum (my favourite); Short Leaved Aloe.
It is isn’t fair by the way — two great talents that you have: A master succulent gardener and a great watercolourist !!
Hi Debra
Here are my picks
Blue Sky Echeveria
Bumby Echeveria
Sedeveria
Short Leaf Aloe.
Top four:
X-mas agave
Shaw’s agave
Quadricolor agave
Blue Curls Ech.
Bottom three:
Bumpy agave
Artichoke each.
Parryi’s agave
Blue Sky, Bumpy, Blue Curls and Short Leaf Aloe. Do you see a pattern here. Love the blues.
Xmas, Quadricolr and Shaw don’t trip my trigger, however the pictures are still very well done. Actually all are beautiful works but I had to pick a few favorites. Thank you for this giveaway.
Artichoke agave, Queen Victoria agave and Blue Sky echeveria are my favorites. They have a translucent but realistic quality that I like
Sempervivum
Short-leaf aloe
Agave polly pelona
Blue Curls echeveria
Silver Star graptoveria
Love them all but these are my faves!
I like them all but these are my favorites.
1. Agave polly pelona
2. Blue rose echeveria
3. Sempervivium
4. Short leaf aloe
I tend the like the more colorful, so the Artichoke agave and the King Ferdinand agave were my lease faviorite.
agave pelona!!!
Include
Blue sky ech
Blue curls
Agave Polly pel
Queen Victoria agave
Don’t include
Xmas agave
Silver star grap
Shaw’s agave
Hi Deborah, your watercolors are beautiful. I have a preference for the ones that are more zoomed in, with less dead space around the edges. I absolutely love the colorful echeverias.
Camille
Hi, i also work in WC so have enjoyed looking at your paintings. I think my favorites are:
Queen Victoria Agave
Blue curls echeveria (I like the touch of lavender)
Blue sky echeveria (lots of purple)!
Short leaved aloe….love the pinks with the touch of orange
I love them all! My favorites are the full page watercolors: sempervivum, bumpy echeveria, blue sky echeveria and blue rose echeveria.
Hi Ms Baldwin! In no particular order, I like:
Artichoke agave
Blue rose echeveria
Blue Sky echeveria
Parryi’s agave
Short-leaf aloe
You are a very talented water colorist. All of the paintings are lovely. The ones I like best are the ones where you see the whole plant and particularly the ones in pots. My favorites are the Queen Victoria agave in the red pot, the sedeveria in the blue pot, and the sempervivum. The ones I liked least are the Xmas agave, Parry’s agave, and King Ferdinand’s agave because they are just a bunch of leaves.
Because I love lots of color, I’m voting for agave Polly polona, bluecurls echeveria, blue sky echeveria, bumpy echeveria, sedeveria, sempervivum, and short leaf aloe. I also love Shaw’s agave, quadricolor agave, and Parryl’s agave.
I know what you mean about having to have a goal…I like to quill snowflakes and every year I say I’m going to start in January, but I never do until after Halloween.
I also love the fact that you can watercolor…it’s something my grandmother did and I’ve always wanted to be able to do the same. Unfortunately, my niece inherited the talent, not me. She’s very talented.
Best: Poly Pelona; Blue Sky; Bumpy Echeveria; Sempervivum
Least favorite: Artichoke; King Ferdinand
So many beautiful choices Debra. I love the Agave polly pelona, the Blue rose echeveria and Parri’s agave. Also the Sempervivum and Short leaf aloe because of the wonderful detail and colors. Only one is not my favorite as it’s a little dark and that’s King Ferdinand agave. Excited to see the final product. Congratulations.
Hi Debra,
The ones I like the most in order are: 1) Blue Sky echeveria 2)Blue Curls echeveria, 3) Bumpy echeveria, 4) Shaw’s Agave, 5) Parry’s Agave.
The ones I like the least is Xmas Agave & King Fernanand Agave. Hope this helps. thanks, barbara
Favorites
Artichoke Blue Agave, Blue Rose Echeveria, Quadracolor Agave, & Sedeveria
Least Favorite
King Ferdinand Agave, Parryi’s Agave, & Christmas Agave
All your watercolors are beautifully done! It was hard to pick just four!! What a great way to celebrate & treasure Mother Nature!
I love the artichoke echeveria, the blue curls, bumpy echeveria, and the aloe. All are so gorgeous! You are so talented. I love your creativity and talent.
Oh Gosh, you are not making this easy! Interesting though that Agaves are prevalent, although they are my favorite too. Here are my favorites, but not in order of priority:
Sempervium
Queen Victoria
King Ferdinand
Blue Sky Echeveria
Agave Polly Pelona
Best: blue sky echeveria
Least: parryi’s agave
Favorites: King Ferdinand and Queen Victoria, Artichoke agave, Sempervivum.
Least fav though all are gorgeous: Xmas and Blue Curls
Wowza! This was very difficult to select for best fave’s as they are all magnificent. But here goes – #1 favorite is Shaw’s Agave.
I then selected all the Blue Echeveria’s, i.e., Blue Sky, Blue Rose, Blue Curls and Bumpy Echeveria,
Not an easy decision since all of the watercolors were beautiful creations that I would frame and hang in my home.
Connie
My favorite is Bumpy Echeveria, followed closely by Blue Curls , Artichoke, Queen Victoria Agave and Sedeveria!
Debra, you are a wonderful artist and have captured the true resemblance of the cactus/ succulents. I would select all of them, as they are all realistic.
Love your talent.
Charlene Palmer
Hi Debra ~ All are lovely, but my favorites are: Artichoke Agave, Blue Rose Echeveria, Quadricolor Agave, Sedeveria, Shaw’s Agave, Agave pelona, Blue Curls Echeveria. Thanks!
Wow! it is so hard to pick, they are all so good! but if i have to rank them, these I like the best: Blue Curls Ech., Blue Rose Ech., Blue Sky Ech., Bumpy Ech., Parry’s Agave, Sempervivum, Shaw’s Agave, and Short Leaved Aloe. the rest are very nice too, but just not as “eye popping” as these.
Janet Ward
Artichoke agave, Sempervivum, Sedeveria, with Xmas agave a close runner up. Cool winter, colorful autumn, cheerful summer, and Christmas.
For less desirable, anything that reminds me that tips get dry and ugly or broken or eaten.
My choices for your 2020 calendar are:
Agave polly Paloma
Shaw’s agave
Sempervivum
I tend to like the more colorful watercolors that fill the whole page. Also I chose these succulents because I have them in my yard!. They are all such wonderful paintings it’s hard to choose ones I liked the least. But, these agaves did not get my attention like the others!
Xmas Agave
Queen Victoria Agave
Perri’s Agave
Blue Rose Echeveria
King Ferdinand agave
Shaw’s agave
Sedeveria
My top choices are: Blue Curtis, Blue Rose, Blue Sky and Sedeveria. All so very beautiful and all my favorites!
I like almost all of the paintings, but if I had to choose:
Love: Agave Pelona, Artichoke Agave, King Ferdinand Agave
Like Least: Blue Sky, Quadricolor and Xmas Agave
Beautiful painting Debra, I like the Sempervivum and the short leaf aloe, they look amazing and the color combinations you just used is so fantastic. The Blue Rose Echeveria is also my least favorite look so pretty. Love everything you paint.😍
These are fantastic!! My favorite three are Agave polly pelona, Silver Star graptoveria (in part because it’s unusual and one of my favorites!) and Blue rose echeveria. My second favorites are Shaw’s agave, Short-leaf aloe, King Ferdinand agave, Blue Sky echeveria, and the sempervivum. Sorry, no “unfavorites” here–I enjoy your work too much. <3 Katie
Beautiful talent! They are all beautiful but my favorites are: Agave Polly Pelona, Blue Sky Echeveria, Quadricolor Agave and Shaw’s Agave. 🙂 🙂 🙂
Shaw agave is my favorite
#1 blue rose favorite
Like the color and the big rose momma with all her” babies” right there too
#2 blue sky because I have one that looks just like that but that is just when there is more sun
Then it changes color for less sun
#3Christmas agave one of my favorites for hanging and for What! it changed color
From white to pink then to dark pink and white
This is an old plant from a long ago uncle
Who gave it to my mom and she gave me
Some slips to start
My sweet plant that blooms all the time!!!!
Your background colors should be from the succulent with more or less value to highlight the succulent. You are using background colors that are foreign to the subject matter. When you fill the page with the succulent, the painting is more successful. For example, the Echeverias and the King Ferdinand Agave are better compositions.
Hi Debra
Wow, hard to do. But at first, second & third “glance” here we are:
My favorites: Blue Sky echeveria, Bumpy echeveria Love both these two because of the colors used (& the plants themselves, favorites), but also because of the detail work you show in each one. The smoothness of Blue Sky and bumpiness of the Bumpy echeveria.
Another favorite is Shaw’s agave, again I think for the detail work you’ve done. Beautiful beautiful beautiful watercolors!!!
Least favorites were the Sedeveria and Quadricolor agave, I found the blue of the pots distracting.
Agave polly pelona – Keeper -because of it’s color, full frame demonstration of symmetry and pattern
Artichoke agave – Keeper – because centeredness works here. Captures wonderful shadows in leaves and nice contrast to sand. To succulent folks we see this background often and it should be noted also
Blue curls echeveria – Not so much – Too soft. Center of plant should be more distinct – perhaps the white outline of leaves is the reason
Blue rose echeveria – Keeper – because of the angle on the plant and how light hits the center of plant. Great color and realistic background of other rosettes
Blue sky echeveria – Keeper – because of dynamic purples, turquoise and rose/burgundies. Modernistic feel…different from other images
Bumpy echeveria – Not so much. While I love the salmon yellow gradation in color the plant form is totally lost in the edges . A little more detail on edges and center would help
King Ferdinand agave – No . Too flat. Not enough shadowing within plant nor highlights to make it 3 dimensional
Parryi’s agave – No. Never met Ana agave with this name that wasn’t crisply symmetrical. While the color is cool it doesn’t ring true for me
Quadricolr agave – No – not enough definition to the lower leaves so it skews the plant angles. The rim of pot is not right
Queen Victoria agave – Keeper. Although quite similar to artichoke in composition, the contrast of pot it nice as well as shadowing in leaves and background
Sedeveria – Keeper – great colors and lighting accents make this pop
Sempervivum – No – Something wring with the foundation of plant …leaf definition I think
Shaw’s agave – No While I like the motion and color contrast I don’t think this displays the plant very well. It is my favorite of the soft one’s though
Short leaf aloe – Keeper – fun color and playful feeling … I like the background contrast
Silver Star graptoveria – NO way too soft and floating in space. Least favorite
Xmas agave No – While I like the idea the angles of the lower central leaves needs some central shadowing
Your paintings display many colors and nuances of colors that I think a succulent could be chosen that fits each month. The one with red balls, Christmas agave, is set for December.
I also love how you captured the blue shades of many echeverias and agaves. They might be good Spring months.
My fav’s are: Blue Rose Echeveria ( #1), Blue Sky Echeveria, Bumpy Echeveria (#2 fav) , King Ferdinand Agave and Shaws Agave. I like the images that fill the whole page and whose colors are fun and energetic even if you squint your eyes and do not
see the plant itself. Think I also see more depth in the paintings I chose. Nice job Debra !! As a Pisces water sign, plant grower, I am partial to the blues and greens and with the splashes of hot reds, purples, my eyes return to the pic again…………
Debra, your echeverias are stunning – I can’t pick out one, as a group they are hands down my favorites. My second choice is the Short-leaved aloe. Your use of color is a nice counterpoint to the echeverias. Beautiful work, fun to see it!
My favorite is the Bumpy Echeveria, Blue Curls Echeveria, Blue Sky Echeveria, Short-leaved Aloe, Sedeveria and Sempervivum.
I love your blog, posts from you and everyone who gives feedback it’s a cactus and succulent, happy family.
The videos are fantastic and full of great tips….don’t change a thing it’s awesome in everyway.
I’ve learned more from what you do, say and teach than I have from any other place.
Thank so much sharing yourself and knowledge with us all.
Here are my favorites for your 2020 calendar: Artichoke Agave, Blue Sky, Bumpy echeveria, Blue Rose echeveria
And the ones I don’t care for as much: Shaw’s agave, Xmas agave, Parry’s agave
I’m going to the Succulent Extravaganza tomorrow…looking forward to it but will miss seeing you there!
Hi Debra!
Thank you so much for including Hannah in your newsletter!
She was so pleased and proud and so was I!
You are so dear to us!
That “Bumpy Echeveria” is exquisite, BTW,
as are all of your watercolors!
Greg and I will be wheels up to Paris during your event with Hannah.
We’ve been invited as special guests of the gentleman that created the device that saved Greg’s life (and brain function) at the Minneapolis airport.
He’s going to be presenting Greg’s case at a conference of International EM physicians.
Worthy- Agave Polly pleona. Blue rose Echevia. Shaw’ Agava . Bumpy Echevia. Not- Xmas Agave. Silver star Graptoveria. Short leaf Aloe . Queen Victoria Agave
Dear Debra,
I love your watercolors. I think each painting could fit a different month for different reasons. My favorite is Sempervivum because of the beautiful colors. I also like the Blue Rose Echeveria. Blue Sky Echeveria and the short leaved aloe. All of them have great color and a very realistic look.
My favorites are 1,3,12. In all honesty I would prefer pictures of real Succulents. There are so many beautiful plants to choose from that don’t need filtering to enhance their beauty.
—Favorites—
Artichoke agave for the exquisite details & beautiful shape.
King Ferdinand agave for how well you’ve captured the beauty of this plant.
Parryi’s agave for the spiky little mountain silhouette leaves in various colors.
Queen Victoria agave for being so true to the plant and its stark white contrasting lines on the green leaves and the leaves contrasting with the red-orange pot. One just POPS!
Silver Star graptoveria for the shape and true-to-lifeness.
—Honorable Mentions—
Sempervivum doesn’t really look like any real sempervivum I’ve seen but the colors here are just excellent.
Shaw’s agave because native California plants REPRESENT! And it’s a very rare and endangered one on this side of the border. All but extirpated in San Diego County.
Short-leaf aloe for those colors!
—Not My Favorite—
Xmas Agave
Bumpy Echeveria
Quadricolor Agave
Debra Lee,
Paint because you have the talent to do so. Forget AI. It is good like an encyclopedia, but not to replace human expression. My current rant is the lack of persons using their God given brains and hands for building, creating, etc. It makes me livid to see dependence on technology. Technology is a tool, like a screwdriver. It has its uses. You have such wonderful gifts of gardening, creating, speaking. Please continue to use them as God intended. I am losing my ability to stand for any length of time and my essential tremors are increasing to the point I can hardly write, so to witness someone with such talent resort to the ease of a computer causes me great sadness.
Hi Susan — How awful your essential tremors are worsening! That must be a constant annoyance. I can’t imagine. Thank you, I AM grateful I’ve been blessed with time and opportunity to use hard-won talents before they fade. I also see how it would be difficult to watch someone dismiss their abilities, especially those that require a steady hand. Perhaps I’m being too practical. I’ve always been eager to save time and rush ahead. Creating a watercolor that I’m happy with takes at least a day, maybe more, and that’s after a re-entry period of coming up to speed if I haven’t done it for awhile. Yet often I see things that are just asking to be painted, and I miss the flow of doing so. You’ve definitely given me something to think about. Big hug, Debra
To answer your question: ditch the wall calendar. I know that there may be a few people here and there that still use them, but does that make it worth your time and effort, especially with so little (financial) compensation? And yes, AI would make the process faster, but I would imagine that also takes a lot of the joy out of doing the whole thing in the first place. Continue to paint as it pleases you and fits into your busy life. Your vivid photographs of succulents are enough for me and hopefully for others, and more than make up for not having a wall calendar that is only useful for one year. And you can always share a new watercolor with us via your website!
Hi Michele — All good points! Much appreciated. I just realized, I’ve raised two issues: to AI or not to AI, and Y/N to wall calendars. Thing is, they’re historically the most popular items in my online store, with note cards a distant second. Even at 10% compensation, I’ve had a few surprisingly good years. Mainly though I’ve been compensated by the creative process. I love your advice: “Continue to paint as it pleases you and fits into your busy life.” And I love your email address too!
Hi Michele, so well said – that was exactly what I was gonna reply. Thanks! Alice 👩🎨
I think that your calendars are beautiful! I have been wanting to get one for myself, but the cost is high for a calendar. They are too expensive for me, any how.
Thank you, Terri! I agree. Gone are the days of the $10 wall calendar.
Your paintings somehow show the texture of the succulents in a way that the AI image does not. Maybe it is the paper you use or how heavily you apply the paint in certain areas. The watercolors are stunning. … My husband and I still use wall calendars.
Hi Rachel — You make me want to pick up a brush again. Thank you for the encouraging comment!
I would never buy AI slop, honestly. ChatGPT and other AI things steal from artists, it’s terrible for the environment, and I’m of the firm belief that technology is around to save us time by doing the BORING things, so WE can make art. Not the other way around. The idea that human artists are being displaced by people using the lie-machines to make ‘art’ that’s based on scraping human artists’ creativity without compensation is vile. Can it make pretty pictures that look passably ok at first glance? Sure. But at what cost?
Your watercolors are lovely. The hand of a human who loves succulents, spending moments out of her one wild and precious life to create art to share with other people? Fantastic.
My goodness, Brody, tell us what you REALLY think! Seriously, your comment sparkles with eloquence and is a delight to read. I like your observation about tech being around “to save us time by doing the BORING things, so WE can make art.” I never thought of it that way, and will in the future. Thank you for a lovely compliment on my watercolors, very cool considering the source!