46 Artists&Illustrators
MASTERCLASS
- Get the wrong end of the stick
I used the wrong end of a brush dipped in a
puddle of Green to start drawing the stalks of
the epimediums (you could use an Inktense
block for a mark such as this). The long
stamens of the epimedium flowers were then
painted using the medium sword liner brush.
You can see just how wet areas of the
painting were at this point, and though it’s
tempting to start mopping up and controlling
things, it is better to resist the urge and let
the paint and water work its magic.
- Take a break
While the blue area was damp, I painted the
vase pattern using a Chinese brush and a
sword liner brush with the same mix of
Ultramarine and Cerulean blues. I left it to dry.
It’s easy to keep going and look for more
“fixes”. With experience, however, you learn
to recognise when you’re looking too hard for
the next thing to do and when it’s a good time
to have a ponder or a break. I’d like to say
that experience has taught me never to
overwork a painting but sadly that’s not true.
If you’re pushing things or exploring, a little or
a lot, there will always be “failures”, but they
are the kind we can learn from.- Be a bully!
Once the painting dried, the textures
(such as the cauliflowers) and the varied
tones became apparent and I had a nice
dynamic first layer of the painting to work with.
Using a rich but still very wet mix of
Green, I started finding the negative shapes
of leaves and stalks. I also described the
corolla (the circle of petals in the centre) of
the narcissi with a gorgeous tomato-coloured
mix of Cadmium Yellow and Transparent
Pyrrol Orange.
I added Cadmium Yellow to the bud while
the paint around it was still wet. I wanted the
bud to stand out, and Cadmium Yellow acts
as a bully, pushing other pigments away and
creating more interesting textures.- Enrich the colours
I continued to add a bit more detail to the
open narcissi and started to find more
negative shapes on the left of the painting.
I used a very wet, richer mix of Green and
Green Gold for the allium bud and its stalk,
allowing the colours to blend on the page.
I also added a rich mix of Cadmium Yellow to
the small flower in the centre to make it pop.
- Enjoy the fluidity
I continued painting both positive
and negative shapes, adding the
darker tones with Perylene Preen
where the stems disappeared into
the neck of the vase, and dropping
Cerulean Blue and Cadmium Yellow
into these areas while they were
still wet. I allowed the colours to mix
on the page – one of watercolour’s
many advantages is its great fluidity
and unpredictability when used very
dilute. I also added a wash of Opera
Rose to the long allium bud on the
right, and the more delicate flowers
and stalks to the bottom left.Top tip
Take advantage of the
fluidity of very dilute
watercolour to create
lovely surprising
results