When I give a workshop, I always place a lot of emphasis on warming up and observation.
It doesn’t matter what the subject or medium is being used…..these two elements are always key to a successful day’s painting.
For my first demonstration, I used a photograph simply as a jumping off point.
The point of this rapid demonstration was to emphasise the importance of negative space which is just as important as the subject.
To achieve this, I mixed juicy tube watercolour and applied the paint with a large brush, leaving dry, white paper to indicate the flowers.
While still wet, I scraped out colour with a knife, to indicate the flower stems and at the same time give a sense of energy to the overall image.
I also dropped into the dark sky area, while still wet, some Winsor &Newton Designer Gouache, permanent white, allowing the paint to bleed and do it’s own thing:)
Remember, watercolour is a transparent medium and designer gouache, also a water paint is opaque.
For the final image, I added colour to the dry areas which gives the impression of flowers.
A bientot