Watercolour Class 4: Painting white flowers

The best way to have white is to reserve the white paper, so it is very important from the beginning to plan your overall white area.

For intricate flowers such as azaleas you will need a fairly accurate drawing as you will have to rely on your drawing for a lot of detail.

The only part of the flower we can paint is the shadows, it is important to observe the subtle colours in the shadows, these can be influenced by the other colours around the flowers eg leaves. Most white flowers have either a warm glow or a cool glow, once you establish the “colour” in the flowers use the complimentary colour in the shadows.

Refer to notes from lesson 1 for colours to use in greys.

It is important to establish a strong direction of light to assist the “plan”of the shadows. Do not over paint. Leave as much as possible to the imagination.

Detail : stamens, centers, buds, leaves and stalks will all assist to explain the flower.

Paint dark against light and light against dark to show off the center of interest, fade out flowers at the back.

The background is vital I usually paint a dark or bright background and “cut into” the flowers to spell out the outline.Remember to have flowers facing in all directions especially the back of the flower.

Its not easy but it’s worth the effort. Lyn Fraser Roberts