When one paints nature, obviously there are enough flowers and such around. But it has to appeal to me. It’s no use taking a very complicated arrangement on, or a huge flower. Amaryllis is the largest I will paint. I try to capture the caracter of the plant or the leave; the impression I get from it. The veins of leaves are difficult to paint, as are the hues and shadows. I am trying different methods. The one I use now: I sketch the outline of the leaf and veins and give it it’s color. Then I paint the whole leave around and inside the outlines. Sometimes that works and sometimes it doesn’t. Often there are several colors of green, brown and red on a leave and that is a nice challenge. A bit of a puzzle to figure out which colors to mix to get the exact shade. I have some books on color-mixing that I will consult. It will get better after some more experience. Another thing is highlights; the reflection of light in a object, an apple, cherry and so on. I have to look carefully where that will be and leave some white in my sketch. And there is depth. I try to give my paintings vitality by adding shadows. I mix paint for shadows by taking the colors that will be in the painting. Most of the time I start with prussian blue/ ochre and a tiny bit of olive-green. The shadows have to be sharper close to the leave.
Trial and error
October 22, 2012 by desertblues
Posted in watercolor painting | Tagged flowers, leaves, mixing of colors, outline, shadows, waterflow | 2 Comments
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All work on this blog is copyright Jacqueline Peterse, all rights reserved. If you wish to use any of my artwork for any purpose, you must first request such use by emailing me at desertblues.3@gmail.comArchives
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I write short poems about leaves and flowers…all the best with your art and new blog! Ellen
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Thank you, Ellen. I’ll have a look on your blog.
Jacqueline
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