Watercolour Painting

Lesson 1: LET'S VALUE OUR PAINTING

HIBISCUS GLORY

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The Hibiscus is one of my favourite flowers. They have certain elegance about them and lend themselves to Watercolours very well. This one comes from my own garden, and I enjoy painting them in a variety of mediums. I chose Daler/Rowney 150gm acid- free Cambridge paper. This has a slightly Cream hue, and the surface is a delight to paint on, especially if you want to include detail.

1. Step 1. I sketched the subject with a well-sharpened Aquarel pencil. Wash Vermilion over the petals; deepen the shadows and allow to dry.
2. Step 2. Hookers Green was used for leaves, and Burnt Umber painted in for the stems.
3. Step 3. Paint White over the petals but avoid the shadows.
4. Step 4. Paint in the middle tones with Vermilion. Step 5. Paint shadows into the leaves and deepen some of the stems.
5. Step 6. Paint White into the highlights of the petals.
6. Step 7. With the fine sharpened point of a Red Aquarel pencil, detail some of the shadows and veins. Retain the filigree look of the petals.
7. Step 8. Crimson Lake is used for the stamen and Violet for the pods, while Yellow is painted in for the other pods.
8. Step 9. Yellow Aquarel pencil is drawn for the veins of the leaves; also some shaded into the stem.

Even though we have introduced some Gouache, (adding White) to this subject, it still appears delicate and almost transparent in parts. This technique can be applied to many flowers, where you need to have some body in the paint to obtain an effect where delicate detail is obvious.

Feel like a breath of fresh air? Let's move outdoors and paint?

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