Watercolor Flower Painting Lesson

Flower Watercolor Painting Lesson

Watercolor Painting by Michelle East (Copywrite)

Supplies: Watercolor paints (I like Winsor & Newton Cotman for student use & Windsor & Newton Artist Water Colour tubes for professional use), brushes-my favorite is Da Vinci Series 418 Pure Blue Squirrel Quill-Petit Gris Pur Watercolor Mop, Size 2, watercolor paper (140lb cold press), salt, reference pictures of flowers, 3/4″ masking fluid, & a sturdy board larger than the size of the paper

Instructions:

After going through Basic Watercolor Techniques Lesson Plan & Worksheet with the students on a practice sheet… Adapt painting worksheet to techniques you will be using on the project. My worksheet included: washes, gradations, masking fluid, hard & soft edges.

1. Using 3/4″ masking tape, tape all four edges of the watercolor paper to a board 1/4″ over the paper is best (options: foam board, masonite or wood-basically something sturdy).

2.Draw light contour line drawing in pencil onto watercolor paper (Pencil marks will show, so draw VERY lightly!)

3. Before painting--Apply masking fluid to areas you want to stay white. TIP: coat brush bristles with liquid soap, then dip into masking fluid- otherwise it will RUIN the brush! Simply rinse out brush when finished. I usually use alternative tools to apply masking fluid like tooth picks or the ends of brushes.

4. Begin painting by applying light washes of color (values) to establish where the light source is coming from. The painting will looked washed out, but we will add many layers of paint until we get the desired result-this is called glazing.

5. Remember to look often at your reference picture (or still life-always better to paint from life!). Continue to build up the paint layers until you have dynamic contrasts of values-making the painting vibrant & eye-catching!

6. Remove masking fluid. Add any additional light values if the whites are too harsh (leave some things completely white for contrast).