Wild Bouquet

Wild flowers are springing up everywhere! My backyard is a field of wild violets...at least, it was until my husband mowed the lawn. I was able to take the photo above before the mower came through.

So, I decided to do a quick painting of bouquet of violets. I actually did pick some with longer stems and put them in a small vase to enjoy for a little while. Now, the painting will last a little longer.

I wanted an abstract painting with lots of color and flow and little detail. Do not sketch your flowers......let the paint "draw" the painting for you.

To achieve this result, I started with applying clean water with a large flat brush on the entire piece of watercolor paper, I allowed this to dry just until the paper was no longer shiny.

While the paper was drying, I prepared a wash of the following color paints:

-Crimson
-Indian Yellow
-Windsor Blue
-Ultramarine Blue
-Sap Green
-Sepia
-Purple made from mixing Crimson, Windsor Blue, and Ultramarine Blue

Using a large round brush, I dropped the paint onto the wet paper and allowed it to run. Using a mix of the reds, blues, and my purple, I used the shapes that formed when I dropped the paint onto the paper to make my flowers. I helped the shapes out just a little by adding some additional paint in places to create the shapes of the petals. Leave some areas white (unpainted).

Drop in some sap green for the leaves outside the shapes of the flowers and in several spaces in the background

When the flowers are nearly dry, drop in the yellow for the center of the violets...allow this to blend into the petals.

When the flowers and leaves are dry, use a mix of Sap Green, Ultramarine and Sepia to paint in a new stems.

This style of painting is fun and quick to create. It also allows for lots of interesting shapes and colors. Be creative - don't strive for perfection; simply enjoy the colors and the flow of the paint.....be as spontaneous as the wild flowers that spring up overnight and bring such delight!

Make your wild flowers last - even after the lawn has been mowed! Paint a bouquet of wild flowers!

Happy Painting!
Karen