Paeonia Step Seven

Its finished. I continued working on the rest of the leaves using washes of sap green and sunlit green with a number four brush. Midnight green was used for the shadows. I then added some white gouache with a number one brush for the lightest areas.

The stems on the left hand side of the picture were painted using a number two brush with Yellow ochre. For the shadow areas vandyke brown was used.

The flower was painted with a number two brush with washes of cadmium yellow, increasing the intensity of the washes for the darker tonal values. For the centre of the flower I used a small amount of burnt sienna. Raw sienna and a small amount of neutral tint was used for the shadows.

This really is a tangled painting of leaves and was such good fun to paint.

Paeonia Step Six

The leaves on the right hand side of the painting are finished. I added washes of sunlit green to add some warmth to the areas of sap green. The background is being built up with washes of sap green, midnight green and neutral tint with a number four brush.

The foreground leaves have so many shadows it makes it quite hard to see where the shape of the leaf is.  For the shadow areas I used a number four brush and a wash of midnight green. Using a number one brush I lifted some of the paint (wetting areas and dabbing it with tissues) for the lighter veins. White gouache was used for the highlights on the leaves.

The flower buds hidden in the background are painted with washes of raw sienna, cadmium yellow and a touch of neutral tint highlighting the shadows.

Next week I will post the finished painting.

Paeonia Step Five

A watercolour wash of sap green has been applied to the most prominent leaves. Sunlit green has also been used on many of the background leaves to add a little warmth to the painting.

  

At the top right hand side of the painting I lifted some of the paint (wetting areas and dabbing it with tissues) for the lighter veins. Next I deepened areas with midnight green.

I am using a no. 4 brush with yellow ochre for the stems, darkening areas with a mix of Vandyke brown. White gouache has been added for highlights on some of the leaves.

Paeonia Step Four

I applied a dark watercolour wash of neutral tint and midnight green to the deepest areas of background. Then I deepened the colours on many of the leaves using washes of midnight green. The background is starting to take shape.