Flowers

Calla Lily, Peony, Anemone, and Hibiscus in watercolor

Over the summer I took a weekend workshop with Greta Corens on painting flowers. We started with some sketching practice and painted three different flowers. I only ended up finishing one of them but have included the incomplete ones below as well. (Sorry, the photos came out really dark.)

Summer Workshop - Flowers

Sketches

Practicing leaves and petals

Calla Lily

Reference image

LK Painting, 11 x 15 Strathmore 140 lb cold press 300 series, Winsor & Newton Professional Watercolor

Peony

Reference image

LK Painting, 11 x 15 Strathmore 140 lb cold press 300 series, Winsor & Newton Professional Watercolor

Anemone

Reference photo

LK Painting, 11 x 15 Strathmore 140 lb cold press 300 series, Winsor & Newton Professional Watercolor

Lessons learned:

• I chose paper that was too large for my first attempts at flowers. There was too much area to cover for my skill level and time allotted.

• Values values values! Understanding lights and darks and how they affect the painting.

• Drawing is hard, and important.

• Color theory is hard, and important.

• Painting is hard. Keep at it!

Family Sketch

Hibiscus

In our weekly family sketch zoom, we painted this hibiscus flower. The idea was to do more of an abstract piece, so I did a very loose background (which I ended up liking the best) and attempted to apply some of what I learned from the earlier flower workshop to the hibiscus. I don’t love, or hate, the result. I’ll call it a solid practice piece.

Reference photo

LK painting, 9 x 12 Winsor & Newton 140 lb cold press, Winsor & Newton Cotman Watercolors

Room for improvement: the colors could have been a little more vibrant looking at it now, though I think the original is brighter than the photo. I also wish I had waited to do the veins until the very end, or used a smaller brush for them. The background was done with 1/2 inch flat and most of the flower was done with #8 round. I’m liking the Aqua Elite Series from Princeton, which is what Greta has on her supplies list for her recent courses.

-Lana