Page 104 - The Decorative Painter Summer 2014

watercolor
FLOWER, LEAVES, AND STEMS
Before beginning, refer to the color/value placement chart on page 104. We will be using the no. 8 round for all remaining painting.
PuRPLE IRIS: Make a medium wash of Cobalt Violet. Apply clear water to the chosen area. Blot the brush and pick up the color. Touch down lightly to the area to form shapes. As you work, you are basically modeling the pet- al shapes and folds. Work one petal at a time. Be careful not to paint any area with the adjacent (touching) area still damp. This will cause the colors to run together. PuRPLE BuDS: Apply clear water to each shadow area on the bud. Blot the brush, then apply a tiny amount of Cobalt Violet to the shadow valley. Blot the brush again. Gently pull color away from the shadow area. Pull brush away and allow color to spread.
GOLDEN IRIS: Make a medium wash of Quinacridone Gold. Continue painting petals using instructions from Purple Iris section.
LEAvES AND STEmS: For leaves that appear more yellow- green, apply a medium wash of Transparent Yellow+Cobalt Blue. Fill in the leaves.
For the stems and the remaining leaves, apply a me- dium wash of Transparent Yellow+French Ultramarine. If a stem is still damp, apply a tiny amount of dark wash of French Ultramarine+Transparent Yellow to the out- side edges, helping to form a cylinder shape. If the stem is dry, dampen the edge with clear water and then add a dark value of French Ultramarine+Transparent Yellow along the edge.
Allow all paint to dry.
STAGE TWO
Review the detail diagram on page 104. If you are un- comfortable with creating the background forms free- hand, transfer all the dotted lines to the paper. Note: The paper must be dry before the transfer.
Mix a dark-value wash of Quinacridone Gold+Indigo. Mix a medium-value wash of Winsor Violet+French Ul- tramarine.
Working one section at a time, use the dark-value Quinacridone Gold+Indigo to form the rear foliage behind the irises. Leave the light-value green areas untouched.
Hint: If you are right-handed, work from the left to the right to avoid putting your painting hand in the freshly painted area. If you are left-handed, work right to left.
Begin at the bottom of the paper. Wet an area with water, but do not leave puddles of standing water. Apply the Dark Background Mix. Move to the next area and repeat the pro- cess. Do not be concerned with some areas having greater concentrations of the dark background wash. It is important to remember that you are creating shapes with this darkest mix. These shapes represent foliage (leaves). Stay loose. Be certain each area is dry before overlapping the next area.
Again, you are creating the leaf shapes. Squint your eyes as you paint. You will need to imagine foliage here and there. Move across the watercolor paper one section at a time. There are no absolute rules here—you are creating shapes. Foliage will appear denser and deeper, creating an impressionistic background.
When you reach the mid-areas, place the medium- value wash of Winsor Violet+French Ultramarine on the mid-right side. Allow to dry. Continue painting in the
READING THE COLOR CHART
Colbalt Violet (CV) Transparent Yellow (TY)
CV
TY+FUB
Winsor Violet (WV) New Gamboge (NG)
WV
NG+FUB
French Ultramarine (FUB) Indigo (I)
Quinacridone Gold (QG) Permanent Rose (PR)
QG+PR
FUB
WV+FUB
WV+FUB
QG
I+QG
102 The Decorative Painter
• ISSUE NO. 2, 2014
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