Watercolor Flowers Class: The Power of Play

 

The sight of fresh, colorful blooms and foliage inspired my students & me in my Watercolor Spring Flowers class at the Community College of Beaver County. 

We began the class by playing with our new watercolor supplies.

The painting above is a demo I made in class, to show how to pick up paints and lay them down, how to create the background after the first washes had dried, and to show the power of putting color opposites next to each other.

I wasn't trying to make anything in particular.  I was just playing.

After class, I added more watercolors and used Posca paint pens for details.  I plan to make color copies of this painting to create greeting cards with.

Below is another demonstration painting I made in class to show the steps in painting flowers. I notice I like the parts best where I was just messing around and listening to the little voice of my intuition.

Color at this gray time of year (for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere) can lift the spirits and give us a way to express our feelings. 

I hope you take the time this week to pick up your art supplies and play with color!

Daffy Down Dillies for Self Care

This time of year, you find potted flowering bulbs like daffodils and tulips in the stores, offering a taste of spring at the end of winter.

I use these flowers in my artistic self-care routine by sketching and painting them.  When I draw or paint something, I connect with it deeply, and connecting with the vitality of fragrant daffodils lifts my spirits.

I started this painting by mixing the colors I saw in the blooms, and choosing a composition.  I sketched with my watercolors rather than using a pencil.

After letting the first washes dry, I added shadows in the yellow blooms by mixing Permanent Blue Violet with Cadmium Yellow Hue.  I used Permanent Rose mixed with Viridian Hue to make leaf shadows.

Orange yellow and blue violet are opposite each other on the color wheel, and so are rose and green.  

Whenever you mix a color with its opposite, you create neutral browns & grays.  

When you place two color opposites next to each other, they create bold contrasts that catch the eye.

At this stage, I thought about leaving the negative space around the flowers white, but I decided to add a bit of drama to the scene using color opposites.

I painted the area around the flowers with clear water, then touched in a brush rich with color, working quickly and using Permanent Blue Violet, Permanent Rose and French Ultramarine Blue allowing the colors to blend on the page. 

Before the washes had dried, I sprinkled in table salt to add a feathery texture.

After the painting had completely dried, I brushed off the table salt.

Playing with color opposites is a great way to liven up your artworks. 

Why not play with paints, markers, colored pencils or whatever you have on hand for creative self care?

You're worth it!