Painting some loose watercolour flowers

 

Here in the Uk the weather has been changeable to say the least, and to put it mildly it has been VERY wet.

I am feeling the season changing, the autumn colours beginning to show themselves.

I am also aware that my joints are feeling it too. I am struggling with a lot of pain and know that it slows me down and prevents my walks, which affects my mood. Luckily I can still paint

I am getting busier this month, you may have noticed I do repeat some blogs, hopefully it refreshes your memory and they will be new to many people.Do shout if you'd like me to talk about a watercolour subject , mean while this is a still life painting of a beautiful posy I received, long since turned to compost but immortalised in watercolour 

 

 

So first I took a few snaps of them on my phone.

 

To choose the best angle, I chose this one.

Then I sketched the general shape, a sort of hook to hang the painting on.

Then I sprayed the paper.

All around the flowers with my trusty spray bottle.

 I sprayed all around the posy, Now I am afraid you'll have to do , what scares people the most....go for it. Look at the colours in the flowers, load up your brush and tap paint into the areas you have sprayed.

I have used, pinks and yellows. 

Then let that dry mopping up any bits that are too wet or dark for your liking. But please try not to fuss to much, this is the background.

 Then while it was drying but perhaps a bit damp I began adding the background flowers, defining a few petals, but letting some of the paint merge too. 

You can see as the paint dries, that the edges are crisper ( on the right) as the paper underneath isn't as wet.

Now to go in with more distinct flowers, but I am still trying to be loose and gestural.

Working my way wet in wet, adding and sometimes taking away.

 Moving to each flower, but also letting the colours move into one another.

Now you see the whitish flower at the top, I painted that negatively, painting the area around the flower to define it's shape. You can't paint light on dark, in watercolour.

 

I found the next bit tricky , I sort of lost myself and couldn't work out what I was seeing. I dropped colour onto the paper, but it didn't look 'right'

So I added some clingfilm for texture and walked away 

Sometimes space gives you a better perspective.

Once back to the painting I carried on adding darks where I thought they should go

Then the tomato can they are sitting in, it's just a rough, waterery, loose painting of a very lovely posy, brought home by my son, and created in Devon

 

Have a go, see where the paint runs...take time to reflect . Sending lots of love to everyone x