Watercolor in Progress

Here is a floral painting that I did at the end of September.  Seems I wanted a bit more summer.  It was inspired by the painting of Kate Osborne in an article about painting with computer apps.  I didn't use apps, but was taken by the joyful colors - or colours depending on where you live.  The final painting is the large one with some photos of it in progress.  So that you can paint one like it, I'll go over how it came to be -- the types of brushes, colors, strokes, use of water, etc. 

​I am still learning how to best use this website's options, so please bear with me.  This set-up seemed useful for showing how to do a painting in steps.  I used to find that very difficult.  It still is at times.  I wanted to finish the painting.  But, especially with many watercolors, starting light with washes -- lots of water and little color -- is much more effective.  Flowers can then have very light areas and darker ones, just as they do in reality even if the painting is not intended to accurately reflect what's real.  If you step away from a painting, sometimes only for several minutes, you don't risk adding too much color and ruining the opportunity to layer.  Letting it dry also allows you to see what the actual color will be rather than what it looks like wet.  And, it means you can safely add dots and lines without the color smudging into the wet background.

This painting, "Late Blooms," is on 140 lb rough grain, 12" x 16" (31 cm x 41 cm) watercolour paper.  So, framed, it's a rather large painting.  Smaller paper is fine, but be sure it's 140 lb.  The rough grain is up to you.  It worked well with the wet washes I used for light colors and stood up to using a sponge to spread color.  Some paper rip or pill using a paper towel or sponge to work on them.  I enjoy playing with sponges to create effects or to just remove - with a dab or press - color that came out too dark.  Atmosphere in my paintings is often created with artist sponges.  That's why there's much to be said for starting with transparent colors as they're so easy to wipe away, lighten or when creating leaf or flower petal edges.
Looking at the bottom left photo, you can see that the painting started with light sketching and shapes of flowers that would later be detailed.  Lots of white was left as its precious space for keeping light in the painting.  For the lavender flower, I mixed very little paint -- artist quality -- in a little jar with enough water for the color to be obvious but still light.  I wet the paper where the flowers would be, and gently dabbed in color to form the shape you see.  It's a bit scary.  But if you keep in mind that you can sponge out too much color or shape with a paper towel or sponge, it's easier to relax and enjoy.  And this painting had a lot of enjoyment in it.
I used a sable, Series 7, number 5 Windsor &  Newton brush.  Larger would have been fine, but I wanted to maintain some control, especially since my hands often shake when painting.  I hold the brush as lightly as possible.  When I feel there is little shaking, I dab in.  And, even let the shaking do a little of the smaller dabs as you can see in the lavender flower.
I used that same brush and a wash for the red flowers.  Notice the light pinkish wash that is kept as the wider part of the large red flower all the way to the end of the painting.  I used Holbein orange and lavender on the right side of the flower right onto the slightly wet red.
​As one of my artist friends, Grace DeVito says, if you get the base of a painting right the rest usually comes along nicely.  So, the left bottom painting gave me hope.  It's important to tell yourself to keep the light.  Don't overdo the color.  I used sap and olive green for leaves and brush and light yellow -- all starting as wet washes and being darkened as shown in the bottom right photo.
For small detail, sable sizes 2 and 0 were used.  If a branch or something was too thin using these small brushes, it was possible to make them larger later.  Too large, though, would have robbed the painting of a delicate sense.
​Notice that while the painting appears to have lots of  colors, it really is no more than about six using blends of those.  Sometimes too much color is not appreciated by the eye.  The greens were a mix of sap and yellow or olive and yellow with some large dabs near the bottom of a Veridian hue.  Notice, too, that there a dabs within dabs and even random dabs of color.
When almost finished, I didn't like that the top of the flowers across the painting was almost even.  So, I added some additional height with light brown sienna wispiness.
The upward strokes were done in various colors with an almost dry brush -- size 2 mostly.  The way they curve is important.  I didn't do a lot of thinking about it.  Instead, just doing some at a time and washing them away if they don't work is better that getting tight.  They were create merely by flicking the brush upward, creating a sense of movement.
If you want to know more about the painting, let me know.  Leave a message. Enjoy!