Watercolors can be controlled to a certain extent, but there is always an element of surprise.
It is so much fun to let the watercolor do its own thing. There is the wonderful
suspense and wonder as the watercolors flow and create their own
beauty.
It's springtime and after a long winter my flowers are breaking ground. While I am waiting for them to grow and bloom, I decided to do some flower painting.
In the joy of springtime, I did three watercolor flower paintings, Echinacea, some Colorful Poppies and Bearded Iris.
The Bradford Pear trees, Redbuds and Dogwoods are taking their turn. Poppies are blooming. The Iris are starting to open.
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The bearded German Iris were just opening in my sister's yard. She gave me a couple.
I brought the home and put them in a vase to draw and paint them.
Erasures may damage the painting surface. Draw on paper and transfer the drawing to an Aquabord.
Apply masking fluid to preserve the highlights.
The color scheme is compliment plus left one half using the colors of blue, purple and yellow.
After the flowers are dry float in a light background of blue and yellow.
The complimentary colors of yellow and purple make the purple flowers stand out against the yellow background.
Soften the edges of the highlight areas to make a
smooth transition from the highlights to the main color of the petals.
Paint in the stems with a combination of blue and yellow. Put a bit of yellow on the beards.
Lift out some highlighted veins with a damp brush or a fiberglass brush.
The painting is complete.
Try your hand at painting watercolor flowers. It's easy!
The leaves of my Coneflowers (Echinacea) are about two inches out of the ground. Daisies have been my favorite flowers ever since I was a child. So I enjoyed painting one of my favorites.
The Purple Coneflowers are native in the Midwest. (They look pink to me, but they are called purple.) They bloom all summer and come back faithfully each spring.
I did a drawing in my sketchbook and transferred the drawing to the watercolor paper with ad - graphite transfer paper.
Notice neither of the flowers are centered and they each tilt a different direction. This helps give life to the painting.
Check here for more tips on Easy Composition
While breaking out of the winter doldrums I wanted to have some fun painting watercolor flowers. Normally my watercolors go on Aquabord, but this time I used a block of ad - 300# watercolor paper for a fun, quick painting.
I used a semi-triad color scheme with pink (red), yellow and blue. I slipped a bit of orange into the center cone. The yellow and blue colors mixed for the green.
Normally I paint with a limited number of colors. It simplifies the painting process and makes it more restful for the viewer.
When you are painting watercolor flowers learn how to select you color scheme.
Relax while painting watercolor flowers. The painting will go smoothly and you will have more fun.
Paint the pink petals first. Wet the petal and start painting near the center of the coneflower.
Then pull the paint lighter and lighter, as you go out toward the tip of the petals.
Yellow goes on the top of the cone which is closest to the light source. Add blue to the bottom for the shadow side of the cone.
After the flowers are thoroughly dry, wet the entire background.
Float in variations of yellow and blue and a mixture of green. Keep the colors lighter toward the light source and darker at the bottom of the painting.
The idea for this painting came from an oil painting by Nancy Medina. The painting is changed significantly from the original, but I want to give Nancy credit for the idea.
This was a carefree painting in my favorite free painting style. Don't try to produce a photocopy. Painting watercolor flowers is such a joy with its unpredictable results.
The painting was drawn in my sketchbook and transferred to an 8x10 inch Aquabord with graphite transfer paper.
The dried painting was ad - sprayed with Krylon UV spray and framed without glass. Aquabord is my favorite surface for painting watercolor flowers and for that matter all of my watercolor paintings.
Watercolor paintings on ad - Aquabord don't have to matted or framed under glass. They are so much easier to frame and display.
This painting is done with an analogous color scheme of yellow, pink and orange with their compliments of blue and purple.
But painting watercolor flowers is so much fun - just let it flow!
The main subject, the flowers were painted first.
When the flowers were dry, I floated in dark colors for the background. This is my normal painting process for portraits of close-up subjects. Paint the main subject first and then paint the background around the main subject.
The yellow by the right-hand flower indicates the light source.
Drop yellow into the white spots that were left while painting the background. And spatter some yellow into the wet background.
Then the stems and leaves can be painted in a carefree manner with yellow and a mixed green.
It's easy, just follow these simple steps.
Paintings of Christian prophetic art will touch your heart, mind, and spirit with peace and joy. The spirit of prophetic paintings will draw you closer to God.
Learning how to paint a rose is fun, but it takes practice and patience. Using oil paints we will practice painting three different colored roses, step by step.
Information about watercolor for beginners. Answers to frequently asked questions about watercolor, paints, colors, what to paint on, how to use watercolor, etc.
Paintings of Christian prophetic art will touch your heart, mind, and spirit with peace and joy. The spirit of prophetic paintings will draw you closer to God.
Learning how to paint a rose is fun, but it takes practice and patience. Using oil paints we will practice painting three different colored roses, step by step.
Information about watercolor for beginners. Answers to frequently asked questions about watercolor, paints, colors, what to paint on, how to use watercolor, etc.