Botanical Illustration: The Next Ten Lessons by Valerie Price

Author:Valerie Price
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781912217748
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Published: 2021-07-15T00:00:00+00:00

Figure 3.8

Finish the stem and leaves, enhancing the colour and veins using dry brush, and allowing the original bright green to show through the glaucous bluey green in places. Finish the bract, adding more Payne’s Grey to the darkest folds if needed. (3.8)

Figure 3.9

Sit back and check the work, looking for shape, form and colour. Glaze over any areas that are too white in their original wash colour, taking care not to move any detail. Darken the leaves in places to make the flower look brighter in comparison. (3.9)

Critical assessment

• I find painting with yellow is the most difficult colour to use in watercolour. Using your yellows to create the correct colour, and show form without getting a dirty colour takes a lot of practise. In book one, the lesson on painting a single flower should help identify the circle of light, and how to make each petal work in relation to the flower as a whole. It can also be useful to refer to the lesson on painting a mushroom, and how to create form with very little paint, or the previous lesson, a white flower.

• Be sure to cover the pencil lines with paint, covering them with yellow, and adding some shadow colour in places, while taking care not to create heavy outlines.

• If the flower is too pale, with white paper showing through, carefully glaze with the Lemon Yellow and Cadmium Yellow mix.

• If the petals look dirty or grey, use your dampened lifting out brush to push the shadow colours back. When dry, re-glaze with the original bright mix.

• If the foliage is too dull, glaze over some parts with a bright mix of the Linden Green and Cobalt Blue.

• In the drawing stage, it is easy to play with the cropping of the stem and leaves, moving a clean piece of paper up and down the illustration to see the effect. Once the painting is finished, you cannot reduce the length of the foliage, unless you use the mount to force the issue. However, you could increase the length of the stem and foliage, and add more leaves and or flowers or even another type of spring flowering bulb to alter the balance of the composition. Carefully lift out the hard line at the base of the illustration, and draw on a tracing paper overlay to see the effect of adding length and various different elements.

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