Painting Cosmos

In preparation for teaching a workshop next weekend, I have been practicing more flowers with no pre-drawing. This is the painting so far:

Cosmos (watercolour 13.5 x 21.5 inches)

How I got there

Step 1: The thumbnail (1 x 2 inches)

This is the first and most crucial step in the whole process for me. This is were I establish the rhythm and balance of the painting. I have defined three large shapes of light, medium and dark values and where the focal point will be. At this point I am making all the major decisions about how I will approach this painting including colour and paint application techniques. I have a plan to follow when I start painting but I don't stick to it slavishly. I allow myself to react to the flow of the paint.

The first wash

I wet the top third of the paper and started with the yellow centres of the flowers. As the paper loses its shine I can start to define some of the petal shapes with pink. Where the paper has dried too much I sprayed and splatted some more water to help the paint flow. Any back runs at this point will add textural interest. Let this dry.

Laying in the darks

I have used the darks to define the petals on the main flowers. I tried adding salt for texture but once again proved that I have no facility with this particular technique. Perhaps this is a subject for a future posting, "Louise does salt trials"

Adjustments

I added more cool darks to the upper left and softened the edge between background and middle distant area. At this point, I let the painting rest over night and completed the details the next morning. 

The end

I worked slowly, assessing each step as I worked.

Magnolias

The Magnolia Society of Annapolis Royal has invited artists and craftspeople to create work "Inspired by Magnolias" for an exhibition during the Magnolia Festival in May. The show will take place from the 1st to the 29th of May at ARTsPLACE in the Chapel Gallery (396 St. George Street, Annapolis Royal)

All this drawing that I have been doing this year has given me the confidence to paint without any pre-drawing on the paper. I do make a few quick thumbnail sketches to establish the composition. 

 Pink Magnolias (10 x 14 inches)

For this first painting, I wet the shape of each blossom and then worked wet in wet. I controlled the flow by drying the edges of the petals with paper towel as I worked.

White Magnolias ( 13.5 x 21.5 inches)

I began this painting the same way, wetting the blossom and working wet. When the blossoms were dry, I wet the entire back ground working right over the branches and the central bud. I poured  mixtures of ultramarine blue and burnt umber, paynes grey, alizarine crimson and thalo green.